Strikes to protest gov’t measures hit transport in Madrid, businesses in Basque region

Strikes in Spain against reforms

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

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

Metro Madrid said all subway trains were canceled after labor unions refused to comply with an agreed 50 percent minimum services.

The labor unions voted to continue the all-out strike on Wednesday 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 on sidewalks.

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

Some 2.5 million people use the Madrid subway system daily.

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

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

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

Workers Commissions and other labor unions claimed the strike was a total success, while the Basque Business Confederation labeled it a failure with scant turnout.

Spanish unions have called for nationwide general strike Sept. 29.

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