Tens of thousands of Greek workers protested government plans to reduce the budget by freezing civil-service wages, cutting entitlements and raising some taxes. The president of the Greek public-sector employee union ADEDY, Spyros Papaspyros said that the government was taking too much from public workers and not enough from rich citizens. ADEDY said that 80% of its workers struck, causing the shutdowns of government offices, schools, the Athens airport, bus and ferry services. However, a new poll shows that 58% of Greeks thought that the government austerity measures are in the right direction and 76% opposed the strikes. Unemployment in Greece is expected to reach 10% this year.
See "Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Greece", Sebastian Moffett and Costas Paris, The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2010