Public sector strike

Public servants in Portugal plan to strike this month in protest at government plans to freeze public sector pay.

The government has already announced this for 2010 and there are now suggestions that the freeze could continue until 2013 as part of a plan to tackle Portugal’s budget deficit.

In response, unions from the two main union confederations CGTP and UGT are organising a national stoppage on 4 March.

There has already been a major demonstration against the government on 5 February. A spokesperson for Frente Comum, affiliated to the CGTP, regretted the fact that the government continues to “do everything possible to reduce pay in public administration”.