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SIMA calls for general strike

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5 December, 2002Members of the Portuguese metalworkers' union will join national trade union center in an all-out struggle against government attempts to impose revisions in labour and social security laws.

PORTUGAL: The International Metalworkers' Federation fully supports its Portuguese affiliate, the Sindicato das Industrias Metalurgicas e Afins (SIMA), in its call for a 24-hour national general strike on Tuesday, December 10. The reasons for this industrial action are:
  • government intransigence regarding its intentions to impose changes in the labour law via a new Labour Code;
  • the reduction in purchasing power due to the general hike in prices and government limitations on wage increases;
  • government intentions to change the Social Security Law.
In what seems to be the broadest attacks against workers' and trade union rights in many years in Portugal, SIMA says that the proposed revisions in the Labour Code and Social Security Law are "totally unacceptable and go against what SIMA has being fighting for during its 25 years of existence." The IMF and its 25 million metalworker members worldwide wish SIMA every success in its general strike.