Italians Vent Anger at Austerity Measures
Thousands of demonstrators in Rome have taken to the streets of the Italian capital to protest against the country's latest austerity measures. Many Italians fear that the government's spending cuts will harm worker rights and pensions. The protest came as Mario Monti, the prime minister, said the country was flirting with economic disaster. Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga reports from Rome.

People & Power: The Indignant
Demonstrations, marches, rallies. For months now hundreds of thousands of Europeans have been expressing their anger at government imposed austerity measures. So what is driving them? And what do they hope to achieve?

Greeks Protest against Rescue, Call for Jobs

Greece Anti-austerity Protests Escalate

Greeks Begin Two-day Strike as Banking System Is Saved from Meltdown
TIMES ONLINE: Greek public sector workers today began a 48-hour national strike that is a first test of the Government’s ability to enact new austerity measures agreed with the EU and IMF in return for billions of euros in aid.

Ministries, tax offices, schools, hospitals and public services were shutting down ahead of a midday rally of civil servants outside Parliament, organised by Adedy, the country’s main public sector union.

“We want an end to the freefall of our living standards,” said Spyros Papaspyros, the head of Adedy, which represents about half a million workers. “I think this will be one of the biggest protests we’ve seen in the last decade.”

Private sector workers are due to join the walkout tomorrow, the third joint strike since the beginning of the year, when worries about Greece’s swollen debt and deficit levels made the country a target of financial markets. Some flights are already affected today.

The workers' protests began hours after the European Central Bank (ECB) was forced to execute an embarrassing U-turn on its lending rules in order to stave off the collapse of the Greek banking system.

In a statement the ECB said that it was suspending a rule preventing it accepting junk-rated government bonds in return for loans. It said that the indefinite suspension applied to Greek government debt only. >>> Jenny Booth | Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Greece On The Brink: Civil Servants Fight Back


Greeks Clash over Austerity Plans

Greece Brought to a Halt by Austerity Protest Strike
TIMES ONLINE: Much of Greece ground to a halt today as public and private sector unions called another general strike in opposition to tough government austerity measures and proposed pension reforms aimed at restoring fiscal order for the battered economy.

Traffic stopped moving around the centre of Athens with streets closed off as an estimated 20,000 demonstrators holding banners and chanting slogans marched towards the parliament building in Syntagma square. There were separate mass demonstrations in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

More than two million workers of the five million strong Greek workforce have walked off the job after a 24-hour nationwide general strike by ADEDY, the 800,000-strong civil servants’ union, was joined by the larger General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), which represents about two million workers in the private sector.

The mood was tense in parts of the capital as several hundred demonstrators aligned to anarchist or extreme leftist groups also took to the streets.

At one point, small groups of rock-throwing protestors clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse them. Although they constitute a relatively small minority of the largely peaceful but very vocal demonstrations, they were closely watched as they often clash with police or cause damage to property. >>> Philip Panaglos in Athens | Thursday, March 11, 2010

La Grèce paralysée par les grèves
LE FIGARO: Une grève nationale touchant les transports et les services publics continue de figer la Grèce pour le deuxième jour consécutif. Près de 10.000 personnes manifestent ce jeudi à Athènes contre le plan d'austérité.

La Grèce affronte ce jeudi sa deuxième journée de grève nationale, en moins d'une semaine. A l'appel des deux principaux syndicats du pays, les employés du secteur public et des transports ont cessé le travail pour protester contre le plan d'austérité. A Athènes, 10.000 manifestants défilent dans les rues, selon les chiffres de la police, aux cris de «pas de sacrifice pour la ploutocratie».

Les transports sont paralysés, le trafic aérien nul et les hôpitaux publics sont gérés par le personnel d'urgence. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Jeudi 11 Mars 2010

Related:

Several articles and videos pertaining to the crisis in Greece >>>

Liens en relation avec ces articles:

De nombreux articles relatifs à la crise financière grecque >>>

Verbunden mit diesen Artikeln:

Mehrere Artikel über die Finanzkrise in Griechenland >>>

Teachers Throng Paris over Cuts
BBC: At least 20,000 people have marched through central Paris protesting against the French government's plans to cut jobs in the education sector.

The protestors are also unhappy about President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to force schools to stay open in the event of strike action.

Mr Sarkozy was elected a year ago on a platform of reforms, but many of them have provoked stiff opposition.

Separately, fishermen angered by rising fuel costs blockaded La Rochelle port.

A cordon of 90 fishing boats cut off access to the commercial harbour La Pallice on France's Atlantic coast for a fourth day running.

Fisherman also blocked off three fuel depots that serve much of western France, by piling palettes up on their access roads.

They promised to maintain their protest until talks with the government open on Wednesday, AFP news agency reported.

Sarkozy's gamble

In Paris, organisers said 45,000 people joined the protest against education reforms, though police put the number at 20,000.

Unions are hoping that a head of steam is building up against the government's reform plans, says BBC correspondent Hugh Schofield in Paris.

Ministers want to cut 11,000 jobs in schools and universities this year, mainly by not replacing those who retire. Teachers Throng Paris over Cuts >>> May 18, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché)
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié)