Portugal's workers prepare general strike

Unions in Portugal plan to hold a general strike on May 30 to protest cuts in social services, wages and job security.

On May Day, shown here, labor mobilized for general strike. PHOTO: JORGE CARIA, AVANTE

After the fall of a right-wing coalition government in 2005, Portugal was swept by a deep desire for change in regime and in the social-economic situation. The opposition Socialist Party (PS) was the big winner in the elections at that time. This party obtained the absolute majority of seats in parliament and formed a new government.

As with other so-called “socialist” parties in Europe, the PS has abandoned any connection with real socialism or even with winning reformist concessions for the working class. The PS fully subscribes to the program of anti-worker social and economic change known as “neoliberalism.” Indeed, the PS regime has carried out this attack on workers’ rights more extensively than the previous more right-wing government.

For example, the government claims that it needs to reduce the public budget because conditions for membership in the European Union (EU) and the Euro-currency system demand no more than a 3-percent budget deficit. The PS government has already made changes in the public sector that mean in practice less job security, forced mobility to find work, an increase in retirement age and threats to social security.

Workers in various public-sector areas reacted by organizing strikes, marches and protests. These workers included teachers, public administration, transport workers, nurses, consulate workers, judges and postal workers. Even police officers and military personnel participated in job actions.

The government also adopted new deceptive terminology as part of a blatant attempt to drive a wedge between workers in the public and private sectors. It referred to the hard-won rights of the workers in the public sector as “privileges.” But private-sector workers also face fierce attacks, with increased unemployment and a predominance of short-term contracts and temporary labor. Youth are particularly affected, including those who recently graduated from college.

The regime asks workers to tighten their belts so that Portugal may adjust its budget and “modernize” its public sector. Small- and medium-sized companies also face increased economic difficulties. Yet the large corporations, particularly the banks, are reaping in profits in record amounts.

Over the last year, 20 percent of workers here saw their real wages decline after adjusting for inflation. Two million Portuguese live under the poverty level. One third of these are active workers, another third are retirees. While incomes are decreasing, the cost of living is increasing and the cuts in public services affect all workers.

In a country the size of Maine, with a population of 10 million people, the government is closing more than 4,000 schools. Local protests all over are growing as emergency rooms, health clinics and maternity wards are closed.

When it was in opposition, the Socialist Party attacked a new Work Law approved by the previous government. Now in government, the PS has embraced this same law. This has made it easier for companies to conduct massive layoffs and eliminate collective bargaining.

Many foreign corporations that had been happy to accept tax benefits and direct incentives to settle in Portugal now look to relocate to Eastern Europe or Asia, where wages are even lower. The government is doing little to force these corporations to make due on their commitment to stay in Portugal.

The workers, however, are fighting back. They are holding vigils at factory gates to prevent machinery from being removed. Workers in a number of companies are struggling for better working conditions and wages, and often for the survival of their jobs. Workers at Pereira da Costa in Amadora, near Lisbon, have courageously held a vigil for eight months, despite police repression.

The attempt to divide public and private sector workers has failed. On March 2, more than 150,000 workers from both sectors rallied in Lisbon, the largest workers’ rally in more than a decade.

The PS government long ago squandered its initial support. For months workers have been engaged in struggle and the moment has come for a broad convergence on a national day of the strongest form of worker protest: the general strike.

April 25 marked the 33rd anniversary of the military and civilian coup that finally overthrew Portugal’s long-lasting fascist regime and restored democracy. On that day and on May Day, International Workers’ Day, tens of thousands took to the streets in celebration and protest. Many banners could already be seen appealing for participation in the May 30 general strike.

In the words of the call to action of CGTP-IN, the largest confederation of unions in Portugal: “We must develop a struggle that continues the large mobilization of workers, that constitutes a strong signal to the bosses that we will not submit to their objectives of exploiting us, and to the government that we demand a change in course. This is a struggle for us and for all workers.”

André Levy is a regular contributor to Avante, the weekly newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party.