Greek protestors unfurl banners on Acropolis

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7675761/Greek-protestors-unfurl-banners-on-Acropolis.html

Greek protestors unfurl banners on Acropolis
Greek protesters have unfurled banners over the walls of the Acropolis attacking new austerity measures imposed as a condition of an international bailout.
04 May 2010

About 100 protesters from the Greek Communist Party cut through locks on the gates of the major tourist attraction shortly after dawn and unfurled the banners in Greek and English reading: "Peoples of Europe - Rise Up."

Police did not intervene as the protesters carrying red flags stood beside the ancient Parthenon, next to the two large banners. The demonstrators did not attempt to prevent tourists from visiting the site.

Greece's government announced sweeping spending cuts worth 30 billion euros through 2012, in order to secure a rescue package of loans from the International Monetary Fund and the other 15 European Union countries using the euro.

The new measures will result in deeper cuts in pensions and public servants' pay, and a new rise in consumer taxes.

Public servants, including state school teachers and hospital workers, began a 48-hour strike Tuesday, with protest marches planned later today.

Workers in the private sector are due to join them on Wednesday for a nationwide general strike that is expected to shut down all services across the country, grounding flights and halting public transport. Shop owners have said they will also walk off the job and close their businesses for the day.

Union leaders say the cuts target low-income Greeks.

"There are other things the (government) can do, before taking money from a pensioner who earns 500 euros a month," Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the public servants' union ADEDY, told private Mega television.

Yesterday, protesting school teachers forced their way into Greece's state television building, disrupting programming.