Two years after the Troika's intervention in Portugal, unemployment and impoverishment have increased, labour relations have crumbled, pensions have been slashed, teachers have been made redundant en masse, civil servants have been under attack, and the destruction of both the public school system and health service has been intensified. This is the result of the unconstitutional austerity policies that have been implemented by the Portuguese Government, in the name of a debt that continues to soar.

The so-called “Memorandum of Understanding” has reinforced the attacks on working people's rights and social gains and on democracy and sovereignty by the EU using the deepening crisis as a pretext.

At the same time, the profits of finance capital continue to grow, looting national resources and further accelerating the country's decline.

While the systematic destruction of the economy does not seem to stop, the General Strike on the 27th of June seeks to put a halt to the austerity juggernaut. Austerity is not the solution; it's the problem.

Participation in the General Strike that gathers Portuguese Trade Unions on the 27th of June is an act of citizenship, defending an inalienable right that is a necessary act of dignity. GUE/NGL sends its solidarity to the General Strike, which seeks the political strengthening of the efforts to fight back against austerity and its representatives, denouncing the Troika Memorandum and its extremely negative social and economic impacts.

The GUE/NGL Group expresses its support and solidarity with the struggle of the workers and the Portuguese people and with the general strike called for 27th June by CGTP-IN and highlights the importance of a broad participation in this important struggle for change in Portugal and welcomes all those who have already taken the decision to participate in it.

GUE/NGL reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the Portuguese people's struggle, which is inseparable and decisive for the construction of a true left policy that incorporates the values of the April 1974 Portuguese revolution into the future of the country and into the struggle for a Europe of solidarity, cooperation, social justice, progress and peace.

 

GUE/NGL Press:
David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08