On Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy etc...: Have the educated underemployed instigated most rebellions?

Those who would give up essential liberty
to purchase a little temporary security,
deserve neither liberty nor security.

Benjamin Franklin

Greece faces strike barrage over austerity cuts

Greek tax collectors and customs officers walked off the job on Thursday, kicking off a spate of strikes against government austerity cuts designed to halt a financial crisis caused by massive debt.

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Both groups embarked on a two-day walkout ahead of industrial action called by civil servants, doctors and Communist-backed workers on February 10 and a general strike called by Greece's main umbrella union on February 24.

…The unions are on the warpath over a government austerity programme that they say has progressively become harsher under pressure from the European Union and market speculation that has hurt Greek finances and rattled the euro.

…GSEE has also walked out of the official debate on how to reform the country's cash-strapped pensions system that is a key part of the government's economy rescue agenda.

The country's recession-hit economy has already been disrupted by a protest by farmers, who have blocked key highways and shut down border crossings on a near-daily basis for three straight weeks.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Tuesday ordered a public salary freeze, a higher retirement age and a hike in petrol prices, supplementing a crisis plan unveiled last month to reassure the international financial community.

Greece's debt stands at more than $412 billion…and it suffered a triple downgrade of its sovereign debt in December.

AFP