300,000 protest austerity in Lisbon, Portugal

The placard in the photo reads: “It’s no crime to struggle; Robbing the workers and the people is the crime.” Photo: PCP

Some 300,000 people marched through Lisbon, Portugal, on Feb. 11, called out by the union federation CGTP-IN to protest the attack by European and Portuguese big business and banking against Portugal’s 99%. Led by the working class, the Portuguese people came out to protest the program that would make jobs insecure, cut wages and vacation days, force workers to work Saturdays and impose other hardships.

According to the Marxist website, O diario, the demonstration’s significance surpassed its ample size. “Workers from all sectors, all regions, all ages participated, both manual and intellectual workers, women, men, youth. With a relatively unusual feature:

“While the great mass of people moved through the streets of downtown Lisbon, the number of spectators on the sidewalks was very low. … Nobody wanted to stay out of this massive demonstration; they were all participants.” (odiario.info, Feb. 12)