------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Dec. 12, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
TENS OF THOUSANDS MARCH: PORTUGAL POISED FOR GENERAL STRIKE By John Catalinotto Tens of thousands of workers marched in seven major cities in Portugal on Nov. 30 in preparation for a major general strike on Dec. 10. The General Workers Confederation of Portugal (CGTP) has called the strike to beat back what it calls "a broad and violent offensive" against workers' fundamental rights that have been won through years of struggle and great sacrifice. The right-wing government, made up of the Social Democratic and Popular parties, is trying to carry out a policy of increased privatization of health care and education, cuts in social security and an end to policies protecting workers' jobs. The CGTP sees the government policies as leading to a general increase in prices, decrease of purchasing power for wage earners, destruction of the system of public and universal social security, and weakening health care and education. As in most industrialized countries, the technological changes over the past few decades have brought about significant changes in the working class. There is no longer the same concentration of industrial workers and farm workers as there was a generation ago, but there are more office workers While these changes have reduced in number what were the strongest labor unions, there is still strong unionization in Portugal and strong working-class support for the Communist Party (PCP), which is supporting the general strike. Still, a general strike is a serious challenge of worker consciousness and combativeness. To assess the mood, there have now been two "test" struggles. The unions carried out a one-day stoppage by public service workers on Nov. 14. Then on Nov. 30, demonstrations of all organized workers took place in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Faro, Evora, Aveiro and Setubal, numbering in the thousands in each city. The boss-owned media did their best to minimize the importance of these demonstrations. One late-night, 60-minute television news show gave just three minutes of coverage 45 minutes into its programming. The next big test will be on Dec. 10, the date the union set for the general strike. This is the fourth general strike since the April 1974 revolution that finally overthrew the fascist government installed during capitalism's great depression of the 1930s. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
