Tens of thousands protest austerity policies in Portugal, Spain
By Patrick Martin
Global Research
October 01, 2012
Tens of thousands of workers, young people, unemployed and retirees took part in demonstrations in major cities of Portugal and Spain Saturday, in a mounting confrontation between the European working class and the savage austerity policies demanded by the bankers, big business and the European Union.
A demonstration against the troika in Lisbon on September 15 [Photo: Pedro Ribeiro Simões]
Dock workers also staged strikes in Portugal, where the biggest protests took place, bringing much of the country’s export-import trade to a halt. The dock strikes have unfolded over a five-week period, driven by opposition to changes in work rules that threaten jobs. The unemployment rate in Portugal is officially 15.7 percent, but estimated at well over 20 percent by the CGTP union confederation.
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