General strike paralyses Portugal

General strike paralyses Portugal

2010-11-25 00:05:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

LISBON, PORTUGAL (BNO NEWS) -- The two main unions of Portugal on Wednesday got together for the first time in 22 years to protest in a national strike against the government measures, severely disrupting transportation in the European country.

Joao Proença, leader of the UGT union, declared that Wednesday's strike is the biggest in the nation's history surpassing the 1988 strike. The massive protest was organized by the UGT and CGT unions against the austerity measures announced last September by the government.

"We can a balance of the strike and determine that this is the biggest ever, even bigger than the 1988 strike," said Proença.

Transportation was severely disrupted by the strike and flights in and out of Portugal are currently suspended. The strike began on early Wednesday after strikers closed the Lisbon airport. Spain has also been affected as many local airlines provide service in Portugal and due to the situation had to cancel operations.

In addition to the union members, many other sectors have supported and joined the nationwide protests. The National Federation of Professors informed that between 80 and 90 percent of its members participated in demonstrations across the country. Also, 20.1 percent of government employees participated in the strike.

"Throughout the country there are hundreds of schools closed, with the support of thousands of workers, professors, and employees as an adequate response to the unfair measures," said Dias da Silva, secretary-general of the National Education Federation (FNE).

The unrest stemmed after the Portuguese government announced in September a series of austerity measures to address the financial issues and consolidate the economy of the country . The measures were ratified by the Parliament on November 3.

The controversial measures include the reduction of wages for government employees, an increase of 2 percent in taxes, and cuts in the public investment and social benefits. The unions claim that the measures are mistaken and will only increase unemployment.

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