LISBON, Portugal (AP) Lisbon subway workers walked off the job Thursday for the fifth time this year to protest government austerity measures being enacted in return for Portugal's 2011 bailout.
The 24-hour subway strike coincided with the start of a parliamentary debate on the government's 2014 state budget proposal, which aims to slash another 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) about 2.3 percent of gross domestic product off state spending.
Debt-heavy Portugal is battling to regain its credibility on financial markets before its 78 billion-euro international aid package comes to an end mid- next year and it must start borrowing again from private investors. At the same time, Lisbon has to abide by the demands of its bailout creditors other countries using the euro currency, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund who want to restore Portugal's fiscal health and resolve the eurozone's protracted debt crisis.
Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told Parliament his center-right coalition government's budget proposal is "the country's passport" to a bailout-free future.
The government has enough votes in Parliament to approve the spending plan despite resistance from opposition parties and trade unions. However, it could be foiled by the Constitutional Court, which previously has struck down some planned pay and pension cuts.
