Spanish and Portuguese workers coordinated a general strike against austerity on Wednesday, with protests also planned in Greece and Italy. The Spanish unions called for a strike after the government introduced an austerity budget for next year and unemployment reached 25%/ In Portugal, the government is also pushing for cuts in return for a bailout from international lenders, as well as a high unemployment rate. Workers in other countries staged protests in solidarity with other countries, with Belgian rail workers halting trains and demonstrations planned throughout France.
See "Workers in Southern Europe Synchronize Anti-Austerity Strikes", Raphael Minder, The New York Times, November 13, 2012