MADRID (dpa): Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards on Sunday demonstrated across some 60 cities against a labor market reform making it cheaper for employers to fire workers, saying it amounted to “legal violence.” Trade unions put the number of protesters at 1.5 million, while police sources said they numbered about 150,000. Hundreds of thousands of people had already demonstrated on February 19 against the reform, which was given the definitive green light by parliament on Thursday. The reform cuts the number of days of severance pay to 33 per year worked, and to 20 days for financially driven layoffs. Until now, the norm was 45 days. The government says the reform will act as a hiring incentive and helps to reduce Spain's unemployment rate of about 23 per cent, one of the highest in the Western world. But the trade union confederations CCOO and UGT called a general strike on March 29 against the reform, which they say erodes workers' rights and destroys jobs. The strike will be followed by more protests, unless the government modifies the reform, union representatives said Sunday. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/BPk85 Tags: Demonstrations, Labor, Massive, Spain Section: Europe, International, Latest News
