sábado, 11 de setembro de 2010

Greek unions protest against PM's austerity plans


Greek unions have staged mass protests in the city of Thessaloniki against the government's austerity programme.
The protests were largely peaceful but police used tear gas on a small group which broke away from the rally.
But Prime Minister George Papandreou, who is attending a trade fair in the city, has said he is not going to give up on his government's austerity plans.
On Friday, the government said there would be further austerity measures, in addition to those already announced.
Some 20,000 people marched through Thessaloniki to protest against Mr Papandreou's swingeing cuts, which have already had a significant impact on public spending.
The country's trade unions have said they believed the government wanted to "overthrow" workers' rights, on top of cutting public sector wages and pensions.
The march was largely peaceful but minor clashes were reported and police fired tear gas at a small group which broke away from the main rally.
BBC News