Portugal grinds to a halt in general strike protesting austerity measures
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 24, 2010, 11:05:31 PM11/24/10
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Portugal grinds to a halt in general strike protesting austerity measures
Portugal was crippled on Wednesday as workers staged a 24-hour strike causing travel chaos and closing schools and hospitals to protest against tough austerity measures designed to tackle the debt crisis.
Portugal grounds to a halt in general strike protesting austerity measures
Union members block the entrance of a ferry terminal during Wednesday's general strike Photo: REUTERS
By Fiona Govan, in Lisbon 5:34PM GMT 24 Nov 2010
The stoppage, the first since 1988 to involve Portugal’s two main unions, the UGT and CGTP, grounded flights, disrupted ports, train and bus services and shut down schools and factories to protest against proposed wage cuts and tax increases.
The Portuguese strike comes ahead of a vote in Parliament on Friday when the Socialist government hopes to push through unpopular austerity measures designed to quell rising speculation that Portugal will be the next in Europe to require a bail-out after Ireland and Greece.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates insisted this week that “Portugal doesn’t need anyone’s help” and will not request a financial rescue by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
His minority socialist government proposes a 2011 budget that will slash public sector pay by an average of 5pc, raise taxes, freeze state pensions and reduce welfare benefits, all measures designed to cut the budget deficit which last year surged to a record 9.3 per cent of GDP.
But Wednesday’s action, which the government said involved 19pc of state workers, highlighted growing dissatisfaction in the poorest country in western Europe where unemployment has rocketed to 10.9pc, the highest since the 1980s.
For weeks banners across the country have urged workers to join the “Greve Geral” to fight the injustice of suffering during a crisis that is not of their making.
Although no public demonstrations had been called, workers manned picket lines outside their workplaces. Minor clashes were reported between police and strikers in Lisbon where the metro system was closed and rubbish lay uncollected in the streets.
As the strike kicked off, Portugal's largest exporter, Volkswagen's Autoeuropa plant, halted production altogether. The plant produces up to 500 cars on an average day.
“I have never seen so many people support and identify so closely with the causes of a strike before,” said Manuel Carvalho da Silva, general secretary of the communist-leaning CGTP-Intersindical, Portugal’s biggest trade union umbrella group.
”It's the workers who are paying for the crisis, not the bankers nor the shareholders of big companies,” said Leandro Martins, a 65-year old pensioner.
”This is a strike against rightist policies, to demand new policies serving the Portuguese people.”
Even though the economy is growing this year, economists fear the country will slide back into recession in 2011 as higher taxes and public service wage cuts of 5pc bite into consumer spending.
Eurasia Group, a New York-based research and consulting company, said in a report Wednesday that European officials do not expect the eurozone's problems to stop at Ireland and that a rescue plan for Portugal could be unveiled by early next year, when it is due to resume government bond sales.
”There is a strong presumption that a package will be necessary for Portugal and the related planning is underway,” Eurasia Group said. “Portugal will be pressed hard to accept a package even if the Portuguese government claims the country does not need it.”
Analysts have estimated Portugal will need at least €50bn (£42bn).
Portugal grinds to a halt in general strike protesting austerity measures
Portugal was crippled on Wednesday as workers staged a 24-hour strike causing travel chaos and closing schools and hospitals to protest against tough austerity measures designed to tackle the debt crisis.
Portugal grounds to a halt in general strike protesting austerity measures
Union members block the entrance of a ferry terminal during Wednesday's general strike Photo: REUTERS
By Fiona Govan, in Lisbon 5:34PM GMT 24 Nov 2010
The stoppage, the first since 1988 to involve Portugal’s two main unions, the UGT and CGTP, grounded flights, disrupted ports, train and bus services and shut down schools and factories to protest against proposed wage cuts and tax increases.
The Portuguese strike comes ahead of a vote in Parliament on Friday when the Socialist government hopes to push through unpopular austerity measures designed to quell rising speculation that Portugal will be the next in Europe to require a bail-out after Ireland and Greece.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates insisted this week that “Portugal doesn’t need anyone’s help” and will not request a financial rescue by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
His minority socialist government proposes a 2011 budget that will slash public sector pay by an average of 5pc, raise taxes, freeze state pensions and reduce welfare benefits, all measures designed to cut the budget deficit which last year surged to a record 9.3 per cent of GDP.
But Wednesday’s action, which the government said involved 19pc of state workers, highlighted growing dissatisfaction in the poorest country in western Europe where unemployment has rocketed to 10.9pc, the highest since the 1980s.
For weeks banners across the country have urged workers to join the “Greve Geral” to fight the injustice of suffering during a crisis that is not of their making.
Although no public demonstrations had been called, workers manned picket lines outside their workplaces. Minor clashes were reported between police and strikers in Lisbon where the metro system was closed and rubbish lay uncollected in the streets.
As the strike kicked off, Portugal's largest exporter, Volkswagen's Autoeuropa plant, halted production altogether. The plant produces up to 500 cars on an average day.
“I have never seen so many people support and identify so closely with the causes of a strike before,” said Manuel Carvalho da Silva, general secretary of the communist-leaning CGTP-Intersindical, Portugal’s biggest trade union umbrella group.
”It's the workers who are paying for the crisis, not the bankers nor the shareholders of big companies,” said Leandro Martins, a 65-year old pensioner.
”This is a strike against rightist policies, to demand new policies serving the Portuguese people.”
Even though the economy is growing this year, economists fear the country will slide back into recession in 2011 as higher taxes and public service wage cuts of 5pc bite into consumer spending.
Eurasia Group, a New York-based research and consulting company, said in a report Wednesday that European officials do not expect the eurozone's problems to stop at Ireland and that a rescue plan for Portugal could be unveiled by early next year, when it is due to resume government bond sales.
”There is a strong presumption that a package will be necessary for Portugal and the related planning is underway,” Eurasia Group said. “Portugal will be pressed hard to accept a package even if the Portuguese government claims the country does not need it.”
Analysts have estimated Portugal will need at least €50bn (£42bn).
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