Schoolchildren are among the worst hit today by civil servants marching on Lisbon in protest to the government’s ongoing policies of austerity.
All over the country, youngsters who had specially dressed up for Halloween arrived for classes to find school gates firmly closed.
In the Algarve, those ‘lucky enough’ to find their schools open were told they had to go home for lunch, as canteen staff were involved in the national walkout.
“The children were gutted,” said one mother from Lagoa. “They had so looked forward to this day of all days where they could run round the playground dressed in their costumes. It was honestly heartbreaking to see their faces.”
As parents everywhere were left to rapidly scramble contingency arrangements, more than 10,000 civil servants were on their way to the capital in special buses contracted by the Frente Comum (the syndicate of public sector workers).
Said the union’s coordinator Ana Aviola: “We’re very optimistic because we know that thousands of workers from all over the country are coming to Lisbon to show their discontent over the government and the policies it has applied to Public Administration.”
The protest, due to start early this morning, will make its way from Marquês de Pombal square to the Assembleia da República parliamentary building.
It is one of many ‘reactions’ to the government’s proposed State Budget for 2015, which Frente Comum say is simply another attack on civil servants, deepening their impoverishment, increasing the number of lay-offs and perpetuating cuts to public services.
Intriguingly, national tabloid Correio da Manhã carries a small back page story this morning, quoting Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque saying that a new bailout for Portugal is “apparently considered inconceivable, but doesn’t appear so inconceivable at all”.
