Massive Strikes in Europe - Portugal Brought to a Halt;
Italy General Strike Scheduled (2 posts)

1. Strike Brings Portuguese Services to a Halt (aljazeera)
2. Italy's Main Union to Strike Over Monti's Labor Overhaul
(Businessweek)

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Strike Brings Portuguese Services to a Halt

    Union group calls for general strike against austerity
    measures amid fears eurozone country could need second
    bailout.

aljazeera
March 22, 2012

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/2012322131751664866.html

Video:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/2012322131751664866.html

A 24-hour union strike against austerity measures has
brought public services to a stand-still in Portugal.

Thursday's strike, the second in four months, is in protest
against the broad cost-cutting measures agreed to by the
government of President Aníbal Cavaco Silva in return for an
international bailout of the recession-hit economy.

"The participation rate is strong in the public transport
sector, among garbage collectors and the health sector,"
Armenio Carlos, secretary general of the Confederation of
Portuguese Workers (CGTP), the group organising the strike,
told reporters on Thursday.

The union is opposed to government austerity measures such
as the elimination of public employees' Christmas and
vacation bonuses - each roughly equivalent to a month's pay
- in an effort to rein in the public deficit.

Public transportation in the capital, Lisbon, and Oporto -
Portugal's second-largest city - were closed, forcing tens
of thousands of commuters to find an alternative way to get
to work or school. The majority of ports, including those in
Lisbon and Viana do Castelo in the north, were also closed.

The Lisbon airport however, has remained open.

On the streets, garbage went uncollected in several cities
including Lisbon and its suburbs.

In the southern city of Evora, famed for its Roman ruins,
garbage lined the streets. "Dozens" of schools were shut
according to Carlos, head of the nation's largest union.

Some taxis in Lisbon sported black ribbons in solidarity
with the strikers.

While public services were widely affected, however, most
banks, restaurants, supermarkets and pharmacies in the
Portuguese capital remained open.

Al Jazeera's Barnaby Philips, reporting from Lisbon, said
that protest participation through the first half of the day
had been "patchy".

Widespread protests planned

"The strike is useless and it hurts the country," said
Pedro, a waiter in his thirties at a Lisbon cafe, adding
business was not down. Protest video says austerity
threatens social gains

Camilo Lourenco, a financial commentator, is also sceptical
of the effectiveness of the strike. Speaking to Al Jazeera,
Lourenco said that in times of economic downturn, "people
are willing to stick to their jobs and get whatever salaries
they can other than being unemployed". She cited a sense of
fear in a country where 300,000 people receive food aid from
charitable organisations every day.

Demonstrations and rallies are also planned for 38 cities
and towns across the country, including Lisbon, Evora and
Coimbra.

The CGTP, which organised the protests, put up posters and
banners in recent days across Lisbon urging workers to take
part in the strike.

The 600,000 strong group, with connections to the nation's
Communist party, organised a similar strike in February to
protest against a reform of the labour code making it easier
to hire and fire workers.

Unlike the last general strike held in November, Thursday's
action lacked the backing of the eurozone nation's second-
biggest union, the historically more moderate General
Workers Union (UGT), which reached an agreement with the
government over the labour law reforms.

Lisbon is locked into a three-year programme of debt-
reduction measures and economic reforms in return for a 78-
billion-euro ($103 billion) financial rescue package from
the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
agreed in May 2011.

Portugal was the third EU country after Greece and Ireland
to receive such a bailout.

The strike comes amid rising concern among analysts and
investors that the country, like its fellow eurozone member
Greece, will need a second bailout. The government strongly
denies that such an intervention would be needed.

Portugal's centre-right coalition government is racing to
implement the bailout terms while grappling with the worst
recession since its return to democracy in 1974, after
decades under dictatorship.

The Portuguese economy is expected to contract by 3.3 per
cent this year, after shrinking by 1.6 percent in 2011.
Unemployment is expected to be pushed to a record 14.5 per
cent. For the youth, that unemployment rate is "considerably
higher" than the nation-wide average, said Al Jazeera's
Philips.

Portugal has vowed to limit its public deficit to 4.5 per
cent of its gross domestic product this year and to within
the EU's limit of three per cent in 2013.

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Italy's Main Union to Strike Over Monti's Labor Overhaul

by Lorenzo Totaro 

Bloomberg News - Businessweek
March 21, 2012

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-21/italy-s-main-union-to-strike-over-monti-s-labor-overhaul

Italy's biggest union will hold a general strike against
Prime Minister Mario Monti's overhaul of the nation's labor
laws, including an easing of firing rules, after two months
of talks failed to produce an agreement.

"The government thinks it can resolve Italy's problems by
reducing workers' rights," CGIL head Susanna Camusso told
reporters in Rome today. Her union, the only one to oppose
the deal, announced an 8-hour general strike to protest the
changes, saying the date will depend on Parliament's vote on
the bill. CGIL will also stage eight hours of strikes at
individual firms.

Monti, who took over as premier from Silvio Berlusconi in
November, pledged to expand jobless benefits, reduce
temporary work contracts and allow more leeway in firing.
The package marks his fourth major legislative effort since
coming to power in November. He passed a 20 billion-euro
($26.5 billion) austerity plan to balance the budget and
revamp pensions, followed by measures to boost competition
and cut red tape.

"A strike by the CGIL is not going to unsettle the bond
markets," said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro
Sovereign Strategy in London. "The markets, and many
Italians for that matter, have already bought into the
narrative that Mr. Monti is a genuine reformer and a
showdown with the CGIL would actually win him plaudits for
facing down the unions." Improved Confidence

Monti's steps to shore up public finances and spur Italy's
economic growth, which has lagged behind the euro-region
average for more than a decade, has helped restore
confidence in the nation and bring down record borrowing
costs. Italian 10-year bonds yield 4.99 percent, down from 7
percent when he took over.

"There won't be any signed agreement," Monti said at a press
conference last night in Rome after leading the final round
of talks following two months of meetings with social
partners. "These negotiations were purely consultative," he
said, adding that he wants to resolve the issue by next
week.

With Monti forging ahead, the focus will now shift to
getting the plan through Parliament, where he will likely
need the support of the Democratic Party, which is close to
the CGIL. Monti has said he wants the bill passed by the end
of the month. `High Standard'

"This agreement sets a high standard, as it would help to
make significant progress toward a more modern and flexible
labor market, and therefore encourage new hiring," Fabio
Fois, a European economist at Barclays Capital in London,
wrote in a note to investors. "The current legal framework
has led to a two-tier labor market, with some workers overly
protected with open-ended contracts and another group of
workers with fixed- term contracts who lack job security."

Companies should now "double" their efforts to boost
"investments, growth and employment" because they will no
longer have the "excuse" of a rigid labor market, Monti
said. The premier said the changes will also help convince
foreign companies to expand in Italy.

"Timing is fundamental," Labor Minister Elsa Fornero said
last night. Dragging out the approval process would damage
the credibility of the effort, she said, declining to rule
out the Cabinet passing it as a decree to make the
legislation take effect before parliamentary passage.

Stefano Fassina, head of economic policy for the Democratic
Party, said in an interview with newspaper La Repubblica
that Article 18 had been "gutted." The party would try to
get the plan changed before it goes to Parliament and
propose amendments in the legislature if necessary, he said.

"The question now is whether there will be any dilution in
the labor law legislation to assure passage," said Richard
McGuire, senior fixed-income strategist at Rabobank
International in London, said. Dismissals

Fornero said even under the new plan, dismissals without
just cause would still be illegal and companies would still
risk having to reinstate workers. Judges will also be able
to order reinstatement if they rule that a company unjustly
claimed they were firing staff for disciplinary reasons. The
new rules would allow companies to fire for economic reasons
without risk of reinstatement and workers would be entitled
to as much as 27 months of compensation pay.

The package seeks to make the open-ended job contract the
cornerstone of Italy's labor market, Fornero said. The
government wants to reduce structural unemployment and
encourage the hiring of young people and women through
apprentice contracts that lead to open-ended agreements, she
said. Italy's unemployment rate tops 9.2 percent, the
highest since 2001.

The package would also expand the system of unemployment
benefits, which currently favor workers at the largest
companies who already enjoy the most job security. Fornero
said the plan will cost an additional 1.8 billion euros.
Workers will be eligible for 12 months of benefits, with
anyone over 54 qualifying for 18 months.

-- With assistance from Flavia Rotondi in Rome. Editors:
Jeffrey Donovan, Andrew Davis

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