Portugal - High level of support for national strike - November 25, 2010

The CGTP and UGT trade union confederations joined on Wednesday 24 November in a general 24-hours strike in protest against the government’s austerity measures, the first since 1988. Public sector unions reported a high turnout with widespread closures across local government and the transport system. The industrial action, in which reportedly over three million workers participated, brought the country to a halt. Most flights departing from Lisbon and Oporto were grounded and Lisbon’s metro was shut. Schools, hospitals and public transport terminals were managed by skeleton staff.

English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/390 ; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11825643 ; http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1089-1

Portuguese:  http://www.stal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=582&Itemid=1;  http://www.sintap.pt/; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11825643

This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2010.