葡萄牙工人发动24小时大罢工

A 24-hour strike in Portugal has grounded flights and halted public transportation in protest against proposed austerity measures.

为抗议财政紧缩政策，葡萄牙正在进行一场时长24小时的大罢工，航班停飞、公共交通停运。

Air traffic controllers and workers on Lisbon's metro¹ system were the first to go on strike late on Wednesday.

They are expected to be joined by hundreds of thousands of other workers, including teachers and hospital staff.

Parliament votes next week on a deficit² reduction plan imposed as a result of an EU and IMF bailout.

The strike is expected to one of the biggest in Portugal's history, where mass industrial action is rare.

The strike is being supported by the two main labour unions, which represent more than a million workers.

Many Portuguese³ are shocked by the scale of austerity the budget implies, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon.

The government proposes spending cuts across a broad range of public services, including health care and the armed forces, and tax hikes.

Also planned is the elimination⁴ of Christmas and holiday bonuses（奖金） equal to about a month's pay for most public sector⁵ workers and allowing private firms to extend the work day by 30 minutes without overtime⁶ pay（加班费） .

Under the terms of its 78bn euros ($105bn; £67bn) bailout, Portugal's government must sharply reduce its deficit.

With the unemployment rate higher than 12% and the economy forecast to contract next year, the conservative government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has said there is no choice but to slash⁷（猛砍） government spending.

"It is up to me to try to mobilise the Portuguese for action every day to contribute to transform Portugal," he said.

Mr Coelho became prime minister in June after the socialist⁸ government collapsed⁹ over the budget cuts. His governing coalition¹⁰ has a majority in parliament so the final vote next week on the 2012 budget is expected to pass.

Portugal was the third country after Greece and the Irish Republic to receive a bailout. Further instalments of the emergency loans could be withheld¹¹ if it does not meet targets for deficit reduction.