Public service workers in Portugal have engaged in a general strike to protest government austerity measures that have led to the nation’s worst economic slump since the 1970’s. The Thursday protest effort, which was called by Portuguese trade unions, began peacefully although it brought the nation’s public transport system to a halt, prompting anger and despair among those who decided to go to work but still blamed government policies for record unemployment levels.
Previous protest efforts and strikes against the harsh terms of Portugal's 78 billion euro ($100 billion) bailout by the European Union and IMF in 2011 have mostly been non-violent, unlike the protest events in Greece and more recently in Brazil and Turkey.
