General strike on 25 November in Portugal brought the country to a halt. Millions of workers from the public and private sector stayed away from work to protest ahead of a vote in Congress on government’s budget and austerity measures.
general strike was called by the Communist Party-led General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) and the PS-aligned General Union of Workers (UGT), the first time both unions have called out their members for nearly three decades.
“We consider it to be the biggest strike ever,” declared UGT head Joao Proenca. CGTP general secretary Manuel Carvalho da Silva added, “I’ve never seen so many people support and identify so closely with the causes of a strike before.” CGTP officials said 75 percent of all workers in the country took part in the strike. Labour Minister Maria Helena Andre revealed, “We are facing a very reduced participation in the private sector of the economy.” This is a new development—up to now strike action has largely been confined to the public sector.
Statement by Jerónimo de Sousa, General Secretary of Portuguese Communist Party
The General Strike of November 24, convened by [the Trade Union Central] CGTP-IN, is one of the most important days of struggle held in Portugal after the April 25, [1974 Revolution]. It was a powerful response to the brutal offensive by the PS Government and the PSD, and to all those who, as is the case of the President of the Republic, have backed the course towards a national disaster that is being imposed upon our country.
It is a great General Strike that will go down in the history of the Portuguese workers and people, in which participated more than 3 million workers. A victory over resignation and conformism. A day which, due to the scale of the protest, has reasserted the key importance of the struggle.
1- The PCP highlights the national dimension and the cross-sector nature of the General Strike. Throughout the entire country, in the mainland and in the autonomous regions, there was an extraordinary participation in all sectors of activity.
The PCP stresses the importance and significance of the strong participation in the transportation sector, with the Lisbon, Oporto and South of the Tejo Undergrounds, the [urban naval transport company] Soflusa, [the rail companies] Transtejo, CP, Refer, EMEF and dozens of road transport companies, as is the case of STCP, Carris, Rodoviaria Entre-Douro e Minho, Barraqueiro Group and Transdev. All sea ports and many of the fishing ports were closed and all the (more than 500) scheduled flights were cancelled. The General Strike also had a strong impact on the productive sector, as for example in: the automobile sector with Auto-Europa and its entire industrial complex, Renault-Cacia, Mitsubishi, Tudor and Camac; the metallurgy and metalworks sector with the Viana do Castelo Shipyards, the Alfeite Arsenal, Lisnave, Sacti, Jado Ibérica, Camo; the cement, ceramics and glass sector with CNE, Atlantis/Vista Alegre, Saint Gobain/Covina, Cinca and Lusoceran; the cork industry, with the Amorim Group; the textile, garments and shoemaking sector with Paulo Oliveira Group, Almeida e Filhos Textiles, Califa, Triumph and KIAIA; the food and beverages sector with CentralCer, Kraft Foods; and in hundreds of other companies of other productive sectors.
The PCP also underlines the major response that was given by the workers of the central and local public administration, with stoppages that reached historic proportions, totally or partially paralyzing the waste collection throughout the country, closing hundreds of schools, Polytechnics and University Colleges, public departments, finance departments, courts and other public services, as was the case with the health sector, where there was a strong participation of the sector's workers.
The PCP also stresses the scale and impact which the participation of thousands of striking workers had upon many sectors and companies, such as the Viana do Castelo Shipyards, the over 400 agencies of CGD [national public bank] and other banks that were closed, the closure of almost all post offices (CTT) and the important and significant levels of participation of the workers of Super and Hypermarkets, Motorways and Call Centers.
The scale of the strike is all the more significant in that it was achieved by the workers under pressure and blackmail. Ideological pressure, which proclaimed the alleged useleness of the struggle; blackmail resulting from the illegal imposition of minimum services which sought to restrict the right to strike; economic pressure, which targeted in particular workers with precarious labour relations, threatening them with dismissals and losses of income (bonuses); and the illegal harassment which in various places involved the use of the PSP and GNR [police and militarized police forces] to assist in the violations of the Strike Law.
This is a success that is all the more remarkable as hundreds of thousands of workers are confronted with dire situations of debts and galloping living costs. These are workers for whom a day of strike means the difficult loss of a day of income.
This General Strike emerged from the heart of each company and shop floor, from the determined and consciencious decision of each worker. It emerged from a feeling of protest, indignation and struggle of millions of workers who chose to say “enough!”. No more injustice! No more injustice towards those who are always called upon to pay the costs. This General Strike was a unique moment of assertion of the dignity of Portuguese workers.
2- This General Strike was a just and necessary day of action against the theft of their wages and pensions. Against the cuts of social benefits, family bonuses and unemployment bonuses. Against the increase in the cost of essential services and goods, such as transportation or medication. Against the destruction of public services and the privatization of strategic companies.
This General Strike was a just and necessary response to the growth of unemployment, to the ever more widespread precariousness and impoverishment of vast strata of the population. A just and necessary response to the process of destruction of the productive apparatus, to the country's ever-growing indebtment and the loss of national sovereignty.
This General Strike was a just and necessary response to the scandalous accumulation of profits by the big economic and financial groups who, invoking the crisis and the deficits in public accounts, wish to impose an even more intense exploitation of the workers and plunder of the country's resources.
3- The PCP greets all the Portuguese workers for their participation on this General Strike.
We greet, in particular, the thousands of young workers who, for the first time, took part in a day of struggle of this magnitude. This is a factor of unquestionable political importance, which becomes an important guarantee for the future.
The PCP greets CGTP-IN, the broad trade union movement and all the representative structures of workers for their actions and the organizational capacity which they displayed. CGTP-IN confirms and asserts itself as the great trade union central of the Portuguese workers, and an unavoidable reference when it comes to defending the workers' interests and the country's future.
4- This General Strike was not a point of arrival, but a new step in the demanding and long struggle which the national situation requires. After this General Strike, nothing will remain the same. The Government and the Parties that support its policies, and the President of the Republic which sponsors it, today had a clear condemnation, a strong warning and a firm demand for a break with their policies.
The General Strike was a powerful expression by the Portuguese workers and people that they are ready to prevent more of the current policies, ready to become the key players in the break and change which the country needs.
The PCP was always with this General Strike, because it is with the workers' struggle, because it is committed to the demand for higher wages, for the development of the productive apparatus, for investments and public services. The PCP was and is on the side of the workers' struggle, because their struggle is a struggle for a country of progress, social justice, for a sovereign and independent Portugal.
Renewing its permanent commitment to this struggle, the PCP reaffirms to the Portuguese workers and people that they can always count upon the PCP.
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