Dec 13 (Reuters) - Here are details of recent and
forthcoming protests in European countries against austerity
policies and other grievances, as Greek public transport workers
went on strike on Monday:
GREECE:
May 4-5 - Public-sector workers staged a 48-hour strike. A
50,000-strong protest in Athens led to violence and three people
died in a petrol bomb attack on a bank.
June 29 - Police fired tear gas at rioters shouting "Burn
parliament!" in Athens. About 12,000 people joined marches
during a strike against raising the retirement age to 65.
July 8 - About 12,000 people marched against pension reform
in the unions' sixth 24-hour strike against austerity measures.
Dec. 2 - Police fired teargas during clashes with over 1,000
students, who tried to break through a police cordon to march on
the British embassy. They were protesting in solidarity with
British students and against austerity and education reforms.
Dec. 6 - Police clashed with youths hurling petrol bombs in
Athens during protests to mark the anniversary of the 2008
police killing of a teenager.
Dec. 13 - Public transport and media workers launched a week
of anti-austerity strikes expected to ground flights, disrupt
services and pile rubbish on the streets.
-- Public buses and the Athens subway stopped for six hours.
Workers at the state broadcaster ERT joined the walkout. Staff
at the state-owned ATEbank went on rolling 24-hour strikes.
-- Protests will peak on Dec. 15, when the main public and
private sector unions have called a 24-hour general strike.
BRITAIN:
Oct. 19 - Trade unions took protests over spending cuts to
parliament, promising to fight to protect public services.
Nov. 10 - About 55,000 students protested in London against
government plans to raise the cap on university tuition fees
almost threefold to 9,000 pounds ($14,000). Windows were smashed
and missiles hurled at police at the ruling Conservative Party's
headquarters. About 66 people were arrested.
Nov. 24 - Thousands of students staged walkouts and marches
across Britain against the tuition fee increases.
Nov. 28 - Workers on London's underground system staged a
24-hour strike over job cuts, the fourth since September.
Dec. 9 - Parliament voted to raise tuition fees as thousands
of students and others laid siege to the government district,
leading to some of the worst scenes of protest violence for
years. A limousine carrying Prince Charles and his wife was
attacked by protesters.
-- Police have arrested some 175 people in connection with
the student protests.
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Dec. 8 - Czech public sector workers went on strike against
government plans to cut the sector's wage bill by 10 percent. A
union leader said 123,000 workers out of about 600,000 public
sector employees joined the strike.
IRELAND:
Nov. 27 - Thousands took to the streets of Dublin to protest
against a bailout plan. The EU approved an 85 billion euro ($115
billion) rescue package the next day.
SPAIN:
Sept 29 - Spain's first general strike in eight years,
called to oppose spending cuts, disrupted transport and
factories but the impact was limited.
Dec. 2 - A strike by air traffic controllers paralysed
airports, disrupting travel for 250,000 people on one of Spain's
busiest holiday weekends and leading authorities to declare a
state of emergency. The government is pushing through reforms
and spending cuts to rein in a deficit and ward off market fears
that it may need a bailout similar to Ireland's.
ITALY:
Nov. 30 - Thousands of students marched through Rome, vowing
to resist planned education reforms.
PORTUGAL:
Nov. 24 - Portugal's biggest unions, the CGTP and the UGT,
disrupted transport and halted services from healthcare to
banking in protest against wage cuts and rising unemployment. It
was their first joint general strike since 1988.
FRANCE:
-- Waves of protests and strikes by France's trade unions
and the public turned pension reform into the biggest battle of
Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency.
-- The reform was signed into law on Nov. 9. It raised the
minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 and the full retirement age
to 67 from 65 in an effort to balance the loss-ridden pension
system by 2018.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;
David Stamp, Editing by Jonny Hogg and Kevin Liffey)
