A union called on all journalists in Portugal to join a one-day strike on Thursday over low wages and job insecurity, the first stoppage of its kind in 42 years.

The action came after Portugal's leading media group, Global Media, announced a redundancy plan this week targeting 20 employees, including 10 journalists, due to a "complicated financial situation".

The strikers called for a wage increase to cope with inflation and for compliance with labour laws on overtime pay.

"Job insecurity and low salaries" create "an obstacle to citizens' right to information," the Journalists Union, which called the strike, said in a statement.

According to the union, more than 20 news outlets were affected by the stoppage.

The Lusa news agency stopped publishing news dispatches at midnight on Wednesday.

Several rallies are planned throughout the day in the capital Lisbon, the northern city of Porto and Coimbra in central Portugal.

The last general strike by Portuguese journalists was held in 1982.