PORTUGAL: Workers walk-out ahead of Thursday's general strike organised by two main unions

Record ID: 340564

  • Title: PORTUGAL: Workers walk-out ahead of Thursday's general strike organised by two main unions
  • Date: 24th November 2011
  • Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (NOVEMBER 23, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ARRIVALS AREA AT LISBON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT/ STRIKING WORKERS IN RED VESTS GATHERING OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF WORKERS ON STRIKE VARIOUS OF FLIGHT BOARD SHOWING CANCELLED FLIGHTS (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) MANUEL CARVALHO DA SILVA, CGTP UNION LEADER, SAYING: "There won't be any flights here except for minimum service
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Portugal, Portugal
  • Country: Portugal
  • Topics: Employment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADL6444RB609AQ98UQ9C4KZTH0
  • Story Text: Portuguese workers started their walk-out on Wednesday (November 23) evening as part of a a general strike called by the country's main umbrella unions to protest against austerity measures announced by the government as it tries to meet budget goals imposed as part of a 78-billion-euro (107 billion U.S. dollar) bailout.
    The unions called the strike for Thursday (November 24) after the centre-right government announced its 2012 draft budget which includes the elimination of civil servants' year-end and holiday bonuses for two years.
    The strike will be held on the same day that unions staged a general strike a year ago.
    At Lisbon airport workers walked out Wednesday night. Some carried banners and others chanted: "The strike is general, the attack is global."
    Several early morning flights appeared in the departure board as 'cancelled' due to the strike action.
    "There won't be any flights here except for minimum services. Also, already today, maritime movement and ships were being diverted away towards other ports and we anticipate that many of these services will join (the strike), namely cruise ships being diverted from the Lisbon port and other Portuguese ports. Once again we call for the good of the Portuguese people, not just the workers, to mobilise themselves and assume the responsibility that we cannot be condemned to poverty," Manuel Carvalho da Silva, the CGTP Union leader said.
    Protests and industrial action in Portugal have so far been low-key.
    Thursday's general strike will take place just five days before the final vote in parliament on the budget bill, where the centre-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has a solid majority to approve the budget.
    Workers, however, are angry about he austerity measure that involve pay cuts.
    "This country is falling apart and we cannot allow this to happen, something needs to be done," Franceline Pereira said, as she joined the industrial action at the airport.
    Portugal has so far been spared a grinding recession, partly because it only sought a bailout in May, long after Greece and Ireland got their emergency loans from the European Union and IMF.
    Tougher austerity measures now are also the result of the fact that the new government, which came to power in June, found a budget shortfall of more than 3 billion euros.
    The labour action, in which organisers plan to halt public transport, most health services and schools, leaves open the question of whether the private sector will walk out en masse to hinder other services like banking as well as industry.
    Despite the strike, the government says it expects minimum services in all key areas to be maintained on Thursday.
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