Spain public workers protest cuts

Spanish public workers have held a demonstration in protest against harsh spending cuts introduced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Press TV reports.

The protest rally took place in the Spanish capital, Madrid, on Friday.

Å“Weâ„¢ve suffered all sorts of cuts. Theyâ„¢ve increased our working hours, taken away our extra payments and reduced our salaries by five percent.” protester and teacher Jose Cobo said.

A year since Rajoy first announced the 65-billion-euro cuts, protesters continue to hold anti-austerity demonstrations in Spain on an almost weekly basis.

Å“Itâ„¢s affected health, education, and all sorts of public services because when we talk about cuts, they all go to the public service, which is what we need most as workers and citizens,” health sector worker Marga Enderiz said.

The protests come days after the expiration of collective bargaining on July 8, which had given workers more labor rights over the past years.

Å“The public administration ended our collective bargaining and theyâ„¢ve told us that now we only have the basic labor rights guaranteed by the law,” said Independent Workers Unionâ„¢s Esmeralda Mingo Santos.

She added that following 20 years of negotiations, they can only be heard through protests and by going to the Supreme Court in Madrid.

Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, destroying millions of jobs.

Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, is striving to tackle a debt repayment crunch and a bailout threat.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

SZH/SS