On Saturday 12 March 2011, a sea of people invaded the streets of Portugal shouting "With precarious jobs there is no freedom!" 200,000 people in Lisbon and 80, 000 in Porto marked a protest of the "Precarious generation" in protest against the lack of a future for young people in Portugal. The huge concentration of people has far exceeded the numbers originally expected and spread to all 11 other cities across the country, and even to other European countries, surpassing the best days of syndical union’s calls.

“We belong to the generation where to be a slave, it is necessary to study”, is part of the lyrics of a Portuguese band song “How idiot I am” that gave echo to the “Precarious Generation” movement. From the ears to the screen, the music jumps to Facebook, via four young who started to call people’s attention for a protest against the precarious conditions that youth experience today and against “those responsible for the uncertain situation – politicians, employers– acting together towards a rapid change in this reality that has become unsustainable”. The extraordinary level of weariness and dissatisfaction brought by the austerity measures implemented over recent years may are part of the cause of the successful campaign that did not have the logistical support of any party or trade union.

In the manifesto that convoked the demonstration, the promoters defined themselves as the “unemployed, ‘five hundred-eurists’ and other underpaid workers, disguised slaves, sub- and term-hired, fake independent workers, intermittent workers, trainees, scholarship holders, working students, students, mothers, fathers and sons of Portugal”, that are here today to “contribute to a qualitative change in (our) country” and stop being complacent with the current conditions: “We stand here, today, because we can no longer accept the situation that we have been dragged into. We stand here, today, because every day, we strive hard to be deemed worthy of a dignified future, with stability and safety in all areas of our lives”.

The idea was simple and short but the movement and the repercussion was huge and showed how broader this is felt in Portugal. The protest didn’t included only the youth, but the middle age and the oldest, all of them who wanted to say for a long time that is “enough” because as it was repeated during the demonstration, “the whole country is in a breadline situation. Just “enough” for the unemployment, for the cuts in salaries, pensions and social rights, for the unpaid internships, for the false contracts, for the austerity policies imposed by the governments and the IMF. 

However, the movement will not stop here, it has actually just started. The promoters are already organizing Forums to debate ideas on how to combat the precariousness and job insecurity in the labor market and national protests of students and trade unions are foreseen for the next days.

"Hopefully it is just the first step in a participatory democracy in Portugal," Paula Gil, one of the organisers said. Now it is fundamental not to lose the path and fight against an “insulted past” where citizens have fought hard to reach certain rights, a “mortgaged future” without quality education for all and no fair retirement pensions for those who have worked their whole lives, and a present that is “blocking the improvement of the country’s social and economic conditions”. “The aspirations of a whole generation, which cannot prosper, are wasted. So do not let us down with the prospect of exhaustion, frustration or lack of future perspectives. We do believe we have all the resources and tools to provide a bright future for our country and ourselves, the protesters defended.