May Day with the IMF

The wine doesn’t come out of the old glass flagons of yesteryear. These days it’s purchased “in a box” from one of the many hypermarkets that doggdly ignore Labour Day, “the Day of the Worker”. Only the sardines have stayed the same – although this year they looked more washed out, and were full of bones.

No-one can tell how things will be next year – but they all know that the country’s on the skids. The “troika” - made up of the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission – are the people’s latest taboo word, emblazoned on demo stickers.

“It was a May Day of concern for the situation within the Algarve and the rest of the country. The Algarve is a region where unemployed has sky-rocketed – and it’s a region of low salaries. Lately, we’ve witnessed some truly shameful situations – with bosses trying to reduce salaries – trying to transform work contracts into uncertainties. We can all see that poverty and social exclusion has cut a brutal swathe through the region over the last two years”, António Goulart, leader of the “União de Sindicatos do Algarve” tells.

“Today, hundreds of Algarvian families are living through extreme difficulties. Some cannot even buy the food they need because so many workers have lost their unemployment subsidy. You don’t need to know exact numbers. It’s enough to look at the reality around us. It’s enough to see the number of soup kitchens that local authorities have had to create – while, elsewhere affluence mushrooms. It’s enough to see the work of grass-roots organisations that are trying to reduce all the suffering, to see that the region is going through dramatic times – and that a lot of people are suffering terribly, with lives full of anxiety and no prospects for the immediate future”, he continues.

And here, Pedro Afonso, a young Left Bloc member, Faro book-store employee and the father of two small children, points out that every year the May Day party loses people.

“Anyone who doesn’t agree with what is being done in Portugal and in Europe should be out in the street in force”, he appeals. In his opinion, there are not more because “people seriously doubt political organisations. I also think all the talk in the media about the inevitability of social collapse just makes people give up. The so-called centre parties (PS and PSD) are the ones that are winning this fight. People don’t realise that this is a political ploy by the people who have been governing us”.

It’s a point of view shared by António Goulart. “Everyday the Portuguese are being bombarded by news of sacrifices. It’s true that the IMF has a policy of cuts. Their intervention is the same, wherever they go in the world – but you have to bear in mind that all these news bulletins have a very concrete objective: to psychologically condition the Portuguese people to come to accept a lesser evil, without any protest”, he adds.

Among the hundreds present, we find Carina Infante do Carmo. She’s a teacher of literature at the University of the Algarve, and member of the CDU. “There is a sense of people – but consciousness of the current situation and capacity for reaction is diverse. But more and more, “the people” is one with problems; people who earn little, and live with difficulties. This is all too clear”, she considers.

And, those that have “low salaries and job uncertainty, inevitably have a reduced capacity to react. When one is bogged down by financial limitations, claiming back one’s rights is all the more complicated” – and that affects the spirit of public adhesion to events such as these.

She adds that new civic movements (including «Precários Inflexíveis», “Geração à rasca» and «Mayday») are “a sign that people aren’t taking it all lying down, and consider there ARE things that should be defended, at all costs”.

Regarding the immediate future, the teacher shows uncertainty. “I’m worried because there’s almost enough pressure for an institutional coup d’état over the whole IMF issue. They’re trying to do very serious things that reverse rights arduously won over many decades”, she says.

Her fears are shared by António Goulart. “Solutions for Portugal won’t come from the IMF, European Union and European Central Bank,” he explains. “The solution for the country, which should be in first place, is to pinpoint exactly the reasons behind the crisis we’re living through – and, at the same time, find those who’ve been responsible”.

For the union boss, “the causes at the root of the current crisis all stem from policies developed over the last 20-30 years which have completely destroyed the nation’s productivity. Millions and millions of euros have been ploughed into ventures that made “easy money” – like real estate”, he tells. “The people to blame for what we’re experiencing are the politicians who, over the years, have all governed with the same orientation: a brutal inclination towards “get rich” speculation”.

Convinced that “only through confrontation will we resolve and overcome the country’s problems”, Goulart outlined upcoming plans.

“We’re firmly committed to contesting any measures that may aggravate the situation of the Portuguese people”. The next step in the campaign is scheduled for 19th May – with two large demonstrations in Lisbon and Oporto “to oppose what’s being cooked up with that famous troika”.

Finally, Goulart stresses the importance of the upcoming elections. “They’re important elections if the Portuguese are committed to making sure that 5th June doesn’t produce “more of the same”. It’s vital that people are fully aware their vote could make all the difference – could avoid the road to ruin, and all the social devastation that would come along the way”…