Portuguese civil servants Friday staged a 24-hour general strike to protest the Socialist government's plans to link salary hikes with the 2.1-per-cent inflation foreseen for 2008. Trade unions estimated that 90 per cent of civil servants took part in the strike action, while the government put participation at only 20 per cent. The most affected sectors included courts, schools, hospitals and municipal services, while garbage piled up in cities around the country. Civil servants trade union STAL described the strike as a "response by workers of the public administration to the policy of attacking their labour and social rights." The main trade unions, the communist CGTP and the Socialist- leaning UGT, say civil servants have lost 10.2 per cent of their buying power over the past seven years.
