The Spanish government announced that they would cut public sector wages by 5% through a royal decree. Spanish unions, who were already planning strikes say that they will challenge the cuts in court. The head of Spain's largest union said that the decree was making fun of their right to bargain. Some experts feel that the unions will have a hard time winning the court battle because of the difficulty in proving that the cuts were unconstitutional. This move comes on the heels of other reductions in spending as Spain tries to get its large budget deficit under control. Two Spanish unions have called for a strike on June 8, and say that they are not ruling out a general strike.
See "Spain unions to battle pay cuts for civil servants", Axel Bugge and Judy MacInnes, Reuters, May 19, 2010