Easterners revolt

last updated 8 January 2015

Leipzig, Germany

Thousands of demonstrators protested this week against the government’s plan to cut unemployment and retirement benefits. The largest protests took place in the former East Germany, where the benefit reductions are expected to hit the hardest. Unemployment in the East hovers around 18 percent, due to the closing of the many dilapidated and unprofitable factories that were run by the state during the communist era. German labor organizers are calling for regular “Monday demonstrations,” an echo of the weekly pro-democracy demonstrations that were held 15 years ago as the communist regime was disintegrating.