In Lisbon, a gathering of several thousand people demanding an increase in wages

Several thousand civil servants and employees in the private sector from all over Portugal gathered today in Lisbon, where they demanded an increase in wages and measures to solve the rise in the cost of living.

The crowd chanted “The cost of living is becoming unbearable” and “It is unacceptable to be poorer while working”.

The protest, called by the union, comes a day after a national strike by civil servants demanding a pay rise. That strike affected the work of schools and hospitals, while garbage collectors did not collect garbage on the streets.

The trade unions also call for the control of the prices of basic foodstuffs, ask for help to suppress the rise in rents and mortgages, as well as measures to fight against social insecurity.

Throughout 2022, the inflation rate in Portugal reached a high level of 7.8 percent, the highest in the last 30 years.