Garbage collection, the operation of hospitals and schools are being disrupted today in Portugal due to a 24-hour strike by civil servants demanding higher wages, according to unions.

“We anticipate a large turnout, with problems or the suspension of the operation of various services”, the coordinator of the Common Front of Public Administration Unions, Sebastiao Santana, told local media.

The strikers are mainly protesting “against the politics of impoverishment” followed by the socialist government with the “complicity” of the right-wing parties, the union explained in a statement.

The strikers are demanding wages increases in order to be able to cope “the violent increase in the cost of living” and losses in their purchasing power.

The government, which presented its 2024 budget at the beginning of the month, foresees increases between 3% and 6.8% for civil servants.

“This proposal does not satisfy any worker”, estimated Santana, while the union is asking for increases of at least 15%, by at least 150 euros.