Portugal strikes continue as Lisbon suspends metro service

Staff at the Metropolitano de Lisboa declared the protest against the "savage reduction of salaries" which workers will suffer next year, according to the Federation of Unions of Transport and Communications (FECTRANS), adding that "in 2013 each employee will see a salary reduction of more than 133 euros per month."
The Lisbon Metro closed all stations between 6:30 and 10:30 in the morning due to workers' strike.
A spokesman for the union told Xinhua that, "It is currently difficult to give precise figures of the number of workers joining the strike, but I can say that the Metro was stopped and the workers who should have arrived for the morning service did not come, which means that we will have again see a standstill with workers participation rates very high."
The strike was accompanied by a FECTRANS technical and administrative business workers strike between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 at noon causing another partial shutdown for some stations.
One commuter said that the strike was a "Disgusting abuse of workers' power aimed only against the poorest people who are most humble and average middle class workers and the unemployed as the wealthy always travel by car or taxi."
Another commuter added, "The strike affects transport, but what can the workers of the Metro do? Accept cuts in their income with a smile and thank their administrators, the Government and the Troika? Perhaps there is a more effective way to protest."