Vítor Manuel Carvalho

Vítor is third-generation Setúbal. His grandfather worked the port, his father worked the port, he works the port. The difference: there used to be thousands like him. Now automation, containerization, and casual labor have hollowed out the profession. He's one of the few permanent workers left; most are temporary, no benefits, no union protection.

The Communist Party and the unions built Setúbal's working-class identity. Vítor's father was a PCP militant; Vítor still votes PCP, though he knows they'll never win. It's about principle, about not surrendering to a world that treats workers as costs to minimize.

His daughter became a nurse—he's proud of that, the education they sacrificed for. Then she emigrated to the UK because Portuguese nurses earn less than Portuguese dockworkers. "What's the point of studying," he asks, "if you still have to leave?"

The port is changing. More cruise ships, fewer cargo workers needed. He'll make it to retirement; the younger guys won't. The union fights, but the fights get smaller.