Public sector workers in Portugal have gone on strike in protest to the so-called austerity measures imposed by the government to cut national debt.
Press TV, 5 March 2010
Unionists organizing the strike invited public workers to walk off their jobs on Thursday for a period of at least 24 hours in order to show discontent with the government's plan for the reduction of the country's burgeoning budget deficit via wage freezes, lower public benefits and other cost-cutting measures.
The public strike, possibly the biggest in years, kicked off with the disruption of work by sanitary workers in four major cities, Reuters reported.
The unions say that other civil servants might join the strike if the government sustains the austerity measures in the coming year.
"There is immense discontent which you can see in the way workers behave and that means there will be enormous turnout in the strike," Manuel Carvalho da Silva, leader of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers told reporters on Thursday.
The austerity measures are expected to face no major challenge at the Portuguese parliament next week when lawmakers will cast their ballots on the debt-reducing package meant to cut the government's estimated 9.3% budget deficit.
Portugal is the third Eurozone economy, after Greece and Spain,that has been overwhelmed by the inflating economy and the escaping of investors.
