A meeting of the Council of Ministers agreed that a evoking a civil requisition in a bid to soften the full blow of the strike, was the right decision which, according to newspaper Diário Económico, could ground up to 130,000 passengers and cause immediate financial losses in the region of €36 million.

Given that both parties remain resolute in their stances – the Government refusing to back down on TAP’s privatisation process and the airline’s employees refusing to work as long as privatisation is on the table – a civil requisition seemed a strong possibility in order to exercise damage control.

12/27 - 12/30/14...

Workers from all twelve of national flag carrier TAP’s unions had pledged to adhere to strike action, which was scheduled to be held from 27th to 30th December, in response to the government's refusal to suspend privatisation talks; action the national media has described as “practically unprecedented” and last seen in 1997.

The government, on the other hand, has said it will not go back on the privatisation process hence bringing the two parties to an apparent stalemate.

The civil requestions means that under Portugal's constitution, comprises a range of measures that may be imposed by the government with a view to assuring the regular functioning of essential services that are in the public interest or in the interest of sectors that are vital to the nation's economy.


"This decision aims at assuring essential services in defence of the nation's public interest and that of sectors vital to the nation's economy," the government said in a statement released after its cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho was unequivocal in the days leading up to the industrial action when he said the privatisation of the national carrier would “be seen through.”

“Everyone knows what the Government’s commitment is. It is to go ahead with the privatisation of TAP. And it is not a TAP strike that will put that process in the balance”, he stressed.

According to newspaper Público the impasse between the unions and the government will not be an easy one to overcome “given that the privatisation of the TAP group puts them at opposite extremes.