In a statement, Sitese announced for 1 May, Workers' Day, a strike “on the provision of work for workers in the commerce, office and service sectors, namely in companies affiliated with APED – Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies, starting at 00:00 hours and ending at midnight”.

The protest is rooted in the defense of “decent work” and the fight “against precariousness, for wage increases, for the defense of workers’ rights and for respect and demand for full compliance with collective bargaining”.

The strike notice issued by Fesaht covers all workers in the agriculture, food, beverage, tobacco, forestry, forestry, hypermarket and supermarket industries, companies providing cleaning and similar services, hotels, tourism, restaurants, cafes and pastries and similar, tourist vessels, public and private campsites, rural tourism establishments, tourist entertainment establishments, spas, casinos, gaming rooms, bingo halls, football clubs, canteens and cafeterias and concessioned bars.

It also extends to workers in motorway service areas, main routes and catering services on rail transport, meal and bakery factories, pastry and confectionery, aircraft fuelers, catering and private hospitalisation, private and cooperative education, IPSSs, charities, INATEL Foundation, Movijovem, SUCH, Turismo de Portugal, for-profit and non-profit homes, service providers and other similar establishments.

The aim is to allow attendance at demonstrations promoted by CGTP-IN to mark Workers' Day and demand a general increase in wages and pensions, the setting of maximum prices on essential goods, taxation of company profits, the defence of workers' rights, the right to housing and against the increase in the cost of living and exploitation.

Under the terms of the strike notice issued by Fesaht, “wage increases of 15%, to a minimum of 150 euros per worker”, an extraordinary increase in the National Minimum Wage to 1,000 euros, “with immediate effect”, weekend work with a 50% increase and work carried out under a split-time and shift system with a 25% increase are demanded.

Still being called for is the granting of two consecutive days of weekly rest for all workers, an extraordinary increase in all pensions and retirement benefits “that restores purchasing power and ensures its appreciation”, an increase in social support benefits, the repeal of “burdensome labor legislation” and “the application of a tax on the colossal profits of large companies”.

The unions affiliated with Fesaht also demand a reduction in working hours to 35 hours per week, without loss of pay, the rejection of adaptability, time banks and concentrated schedules, an end to precarious employment, “with the immediate transfer to the staff of all workers with precarious contracts who occupy permanent positions”, 25 working days of vacation without penalties, the unblocking of collective bargaining and free and quality public services.

The advance notice issued for May 1st by the trade union federation covers “the periods preceding and following the normal working period to which the main strike period refers, whenever the start and end of the work provision do not coincide with said period”.

During the strike, the minimum services established in collective labor contracts and minimum meal services are guaranteed, namely geriatric meals for bedridden patients and minimum services in laundries, namely washing clothes for emergency services.