Spanish strike causes transport havoc

Strikes against austerity measures caused transport havoc today in Madrid and led to clashes between police and picketers in the Basque region.

Traffic in the Spanish capital was reduced to chaos as subway trains stopped running because of the stoppage to protest against public sector wage cuts ordered by the government.

Metro Madrid said all subway trains were cancelled after unions refused to comply with an agreed 50% minimum service.

The unions voted to continue the all-out strike tomorrow but said they were open to negotiations.

The stoppage caught many people by surprise and forced them to seek alternative transport. Many people had to use cars, causing major traffic jams across the city while lengthy bus queues formed.

About 2.5 million people use the Madrid subway system daily.

It was the second day of a three-day strike called in protest at an average 5% wage cut for public service workers that is due to come into effect next month.

The wage cuts are part of an austerity plan aimed at reducing a deficit of 11.2% of GDP in 2009 to 3% by 2013.

In the Basque country, unions staged a one-day general strike to protest the government’s austerity plan and a recent reform which makes it cheaper for companies to lay off workers.

Police clashed with picketers in Bilbao and Vitoria, and arrested three demonstrators. No one was hurt.

Unions claimed the strike was a total success, while the Basque Business Confederation labelled it a failure with scant turnout.

Spanish unions have called for a nationwide general strike on September 29.

Spain is struggling to emerge from nearly two years of recession following the collapse of its construction sector which had earlier fuelled a decade of economic boom. Besides its swollen deficit problems, it also has a eurozone high unemployment rate of 20%.