In early 2026, Europe became the epicenter of extensive protests, causing classrooms to remain vacant, flights to be canceled, and medical visits to be postponed. Which countries experienced the most vocal worker protests?
Several European nations are commonly perceived as prone to striking, and the latest data seems to confirm this view.
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During the first quarter of 2026, Portugal (234), Italy (190), Spain (108), and France (105) recorded the highest strike counts among seven EU member states. These statistics come from analyses by AI data collector Strike Tracker, the Portuguese Directorate-General for Employment and Industrial Relations (DGERT), and Italy’s CGSSE, which oversees the balance between the right to strike and user rights.
The labor disputes primarily affected the transport, education, healthcare, and public administration sectors, yet these concerns do not represent the full breadth of reasons behind the protests.
On 12 June, Italy’s local police and related services called a nationwide strike, demanding improved labor conditions. This followed several officers being hospitalized after assaults while on duty, according to the union’s regional spokespeople.
Recently, Portugal experienced its second nationwide strike within six months, opposing a new labor reform package introduced by the center-right government.
In contrast, the Netherlands reported only about seven strikes during the initial three months of 2026, ranking it as the country with the fewest strikes in this group.
Traditionally, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria have seen less frequent industrial actions compared to other EU nations.
However, initial records indicate that 2025 marked the highest strike activity throughout the EU since 1991, as noted by the European Trade Union Institute.
From 2020 to 2024, Finland, Belgium, and France led the EU in the number of strikes.
Although data on strike activity remains limited and fragmented, by 2024 the predominant cause for major strikes was wage disputes, especially wages not keeping up with inflation-driven increases in living costs.
Reduced space for trade unions
The proportion of workers affiliated with trade unions has halved since 1985, dropping from 30% to 15% between 2023 and 2024, with Belgium being an exception to this trend, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Across 28 OECD countries, an average of 14.3% of employed women were union members in 2024, compared to 15% of employed men.
Union membership was considerably higher in the public sector, involving 41.3% of workers in 2024, versus just 10.1% within the private sector.
The percentage of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements has also notably declined over the past three decades, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.