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Public-service workers walk out in Portugal

Four of every five public-sector workers in Portugal walked off their jobs on March 4 to protest government plans to decrease pensions, eliminate and outsource jobs and continue a freeze on wages. Trade unions representing more than 500,000 such workers joined the strike.

The issues are remarkably similar to those raised in Greece in this period. A government led by a nominally Socialist Party is attempting to impose severe cutbacks on the working class, while the imperialist bankers of the European Union’s big powers pressure the Portuguese government to impose even greater cutbacks.

In Portugal, as in Greece, there is a major combative trade union confederation — the CGTP — that was organized by the Portuguese Communist Party. The March 4 strike was waged in the name of the Common Front, which includes other trade union organizations. Even trade unions linked to the governing Socialist Party joined the strike.

Portugal’s unions said their members had suffered worsening conditions for years as public pensions and other benefits were cut. This year, public-sector wages were frozen to appease international speculators concerned about the government’s budget deficit.

The walkout shut schools, hospitals and public offices. Court hearings and waste collection were also affected. According to Ana Avoila, spokesperson for the Common Front, 80 percent of the workers joined the strike, the same as when the three union federations united in 2007. The Common Front announced that there will be local actions in April and a great united protest at the end of May.