General indifference

By P.W. | LISBON

A GENERAL strike in protest against labour reforms and tough austerity measures has disrupted public transport, hospitals, ports and schools in Portugal today. Like previous demonstrations, today's protest was peaceful and well-disciplined.

But there are signs that workers are growing weary of such actions against the country's €78 billion ($103 billion) bail-out agreement. Support for today's 24-hour stoppage seems weaker than it was for a similar protest in November.

The strike was called by the communist-leaning CGTP-Intersindical, Portugal's biggest trade-union confederation. But the union movement is split. The União Geral de Trabalhadores (UGT), the second-largest and more moderate union movement, opted not to support the strike after signing up in January to a labour pact with the government and employers' organisations.

The two groups had joined forces in November to stage in the country's biggest general strike in 30 years. But João Proença, the UGT leader, said another strike was not the best way to combat rising unemployment. Portugal's jobless rate reached 14% in December and is forecast to continue climbing into 2013. The youth unemployment rate is above 28%.

Like Italy and Spain, Portugal is pressing ahead with reforms to introduce more flexibility into labour markets. The split in the union movement suggests that an increasing number of workers see little benefit in resisting the measures through strikes and demonstrations."It is not to be expected that today's strike will help find solutions for the difficulties the country is facing," said Público, an influential daily, in an editorial.

A general strike is scheduled for next Thursday in neighbouring Spain, where the unemployment problem is significantly worse than in Portugal. Many observers think it is likely to fall flat there, too.

Few of the 3,600 workers at AutoEuropa, a Volkswagen plant near Lisbon, joined today's protest. A union representative at the plant, where production was expected to drop 5% today, said that cash-strapped workers were finding it difficult to justify going on strike and losing a day's pay.

But unions said support for the strike was stronger than in November among public-transport workers, who brought trains, buses and ferries to a virtual standstill in Lisbon and Oporto. The public-transport sector, with debts worth around €17 billion, faces sweeping reforms under the terms of the adjustment programme agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Arménio Carlos, the CGTP leader, said the government's austerity measures and labour reforms would result in many workers seeing their wages drop by up to 25%. On top of pay cuts and tax increases, the measures will make it easier and cheaper for companies to fire workers, will introduce more flexible timetables, and will cut holidays and overtime rates.

The strike is seen as a leadership test for Mr Carlos, a member of the central committee of Portugal's hardline Communist Party, who took up his post in January.“I don't believe that workers will passively accept a cut in pay,” he said.

The austerity-wracked economy is expected to shrink by 3.3% of GDP this year.Economists remain sceptical that growth will pick up in 2013, as the government forecasts. Many are also highly sceptical that Portugal will be able to return to the international debt market in September next year, as envisaged in the bail-out agreement. Portugal may soon be joining Greece in the category of euro-zone "special cases".