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Portuguese civil servants strike against austerity

Xinhua, March 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

Portuguese civil servants walked off the job on Friday, affecting schools and hospitals among others, in a protest against austerity measures imposed by the center-right government.

The main groups contesting the measures are waste collection, night shift workers in hospitals, and fire brigades, said the secretary general of the country's largest trade union CGTP, Armenio Carlos, to Lusa news agency.

Employees were striking to protest salary cuts, the rise in weekly working hours from 35 to 40 hours, career promotion freezes, as well as other austerity measures the center-right government has been applying since 2011 when the country signed a 78-billion-euro bailout program with the troika of international lenders.

Carlos said the rights employees were fighting for are essential to improving public services. What's more, the state owes them, he said.

"It has been proved that the 10 million euros that the state took away from employees was the same sum that was carried over to banks: I am referring to the Novo Banco, the BPN and the BPI," he said.

"This shows that the problems are not in the public administration, but in the political options that the government took on," Carlos added.

The strike was organized by a trade union affiliated with the CGTP and was supported by the syndicates of public administration workers and the state's technical staff.

The walk-out is the latest test for the government which has been embroiled in corruption scandals and is meanwhile facing general elections later this year.

Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has seen his popularity drop in recent polls after he admitted to delaying paying social security tax between 1999 and 2004.

The country has endured numerous strikes in several sectors, including flag carrier airline TAP over the poor working conditions for employees and the loss of millions of euros due to stoppages.

The national train company CP and bus companies, which are mostly state-run, have also held several strikes this year. Endit