Lisbon, June 9 - Portugal's largest retailers said on Monday supermarkets could run out of food because of a strike by truckers and accused police of standing by as picket lines stopped transport.
The Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies, speaking for the retailers, said that if the strike does not end its members will "have no way of supplying shops with products".
It said in a statement that the blocking of trucks on Monday, when Portuguese joined Spanish truckers in a strike over high oil prices, had seriously disrupted supplies of foodstuffs and petrol.
Picket lines by truckers on Monday stopped most trucks from circulating and a number of trucks still on the road were stoned by the striking drivers. The strike was called for an indefinite duration.
The association said police had shown "incomprehensible passivity" towards the free circulation of goods and trucks.
The association counts on members such as Sonae and Jeronimo Martins, Portugal's two largest retailers.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates said earlier the government was considering measures to help truckers as long as the solutions "don't threaten the Portuguese economy's fundamentals and its public accounts."
Portuguese protests are generally peaceful with the government and demonstrators reaching consensual agreements. The truckers strike on Monday, however, showed tempers were running unusually high.