Thousands rally against Portugal's austerity plans

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Portugal against the governments austerity measures, protest organisers said, amid projections that the economic situation was far worse than expected.Government and private sector workers demonstrated in Lisbon and Porto, following a call by the countrys largest trade union federation to speak out against policies it says threaten jobs, workers, pensions and social rights.Rally organisers claimed 130,000 people demonstrated in Lisbon and 50,000 turned out in Porto. Portugals police did not provide an estimate of the crowd, but local medias tallies said the figures were inflated.In April, Portugal became the third eurozone country after Greece and Ireland to request an emergency bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to deal with its mountain of debt.In exchange for the 78 billion euro ($106 billion) the country agreed to impose reforms demanded by its creditors, including tough budget cutting measures.Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelhos right-of-centre government, which unseated the Socialists in a June vote, has promised further austerity, which is favoured the EU and IMF, but loathed by those on the streets Saturday.No to the IMFs interference, read another banner, which included the line: We are saying no to this programme of aggression.Last month, Portugal unveiled plans for a slimmed-down central administration, that included the axing of 1,700 managerial posts from the state administration and 137 public companies.While holding a megaphone, Lourno pointed to specifically to a plan to reduce severance pay to 20 days per year worked, down from 30 days.In a statement issued ahead of the rally, the CGTP argued that it is the governments policy decisions that have hampered economic recovery.But parliamentary affairs minister Miguel Relvas said Saturday that the austerity track Portugal is on is not reversible.We are going to continue to ask for sacrifices from the Portuguese people, he said.The government said Friday that it will announce by mid-October a new set of austerity measures for the 2012 budget.