On 30 August, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar told reporters that the government plans “unprecedented” spending cuts in 2012 to meet debt-reduction targets agreed in return for a €78 billion bailout. The government already announced to levy a one-off tax, taking half of workers' Christmas bonus, to help reach the target for the budget deficit in 2011. The bonus is equivalent to a month's pay. The Minister also announced that the number of civil servants will be reduced by 2% annually over the next three years while civil service salaries will be frozen over the same period. Observers agree that the plans will bring more pain for families and companies already finding it hard to make ends meet amid tax hikes and welfare cuts. The unions have vowed to fight the measures and plan demonstrations on 1 October (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 4 May and June 2011).
English: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PF5ED80.htm
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 2011.