WORKERS in Chile have staged a general strike to demand higher wages and improved working conditions.

Nationwide demonstrations took place on Thursday, bringing together at least 30 trade unions, students, small businesses and civil society groups in support of the strike called by the Unified Workers Centre (CUT).

There were huge demonstrations in Santiago, Valparaiso, Concepcion, Antofagasta and Ovalle, while a range of other protest actions took place in Atacama, Coquimbo, Rancagua, Temuco, Punta Arenas, Vina del Mar and many other towns.

The strikers’ demands included wage increases, improved housing, stronger collective bargaining rights, better pensions, free education and quality healthcare.

They also called for improvements in support for working families and the approval of a tax reform to fund greater social protections.

CUT president David Acuna said the “demonstrations open the way to a new political scenario, from which the social movement is bursting in to combat the obstructionism of the business right and to make the government understand that it must fulfil its programme.”