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Exactly one year after its last general strike, Portugal grinds to a halt again on 24 November. Transport, education, health, public services, justice and security, trade, industry, culture and media are some of thesectors affected.Lisbon daily Público writes that discontent among workers has intensified "with the fall of the government, the closing of financial markets, the entry of the [EU/IMF/ECB] troika and the election of the PSD/CDS [social democrat and conservative] coalition government which, in some cases, has taken measures beyond those agreed with the troika".
Workers fear for the future and are therefore more willing to rebel and protest, union sources have told Público. Among the austerity measures, the most hotly contested are "cutting overtime pay and increasing the flexibility of working hours, cuts to public sector pay [...] massive layoffs in the transport sector and reduction of unemployment benefit in times of recession".
According to Público, the general feeling is that the government must be more open to negotiation. Otherwise, "if you do not enter into social dialogue seriously, attitudes tend to harden," says a union leader, while another adds: "And we will not stop!"
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