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The First massive General Strike in 22 years, supported by the 2 Portuguese Union Confederations - UGT (has government affinities) and CGT (traditionally linked to the communists) - and a great majority of independent unions has been triggered by the austerity policies, outlined in the 2011 State Budget. The austerity policies, prior to approval in the Parliament, were agreed upon by the 2 major parties, the Socialist Party (centre-left; in Government) and the Social-Democrat Party (centre-right). The Austerity policies plan pay cuts (up to 10%) for civil servants, cuts in social benefits (such as unemployment benefits and child benefits), increase in VAT, amongst other cuts. On the first hours of General Strike, the night shifts have registered high levels of adherence, with no trains in the cities around the capital (Lisbon), with boats totally paralysed, with no garbage collection services not working, nurses registering around 70% compliance AND around 90% accession in major factories with continuous laboring. The Strike has caused to cancel 250 flights, as a total for the sum of all airports. A social movement called Pi - Precarios Inflexiveis (Inflexible Precarious) is reporting on the strike<http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.precariosinflexiveis.org%2F&langpair=pt%7Cen&en=pt&en=UTF8> Ricardo Salabert ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
