Greek military glow teargas at protesters in Athens

ATHENS Thu Mar 4, 2010 4:15pm EST Related News Greek police fire teargas at protesters in AthensThu, Mar 4 2010UPDATE 1-Shocked Greeks digest cuts, unions call strikesThu, Mar 4 2010Greek unions in new strike call against austerityThu, Mar 4 2010Greek police fire teargas at protesters in AthensWed, Feb 24 2010Greek police fire teargas at protesters in AthensWed, Feb 24 2010

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas on Thursday to disperse about 50 demonstrators in central Athens after clashes broke out during protests against government austerity measures, a police official said.

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Left-wing groups and communist trade unions rallied in the Greek capital a day after the government announced 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in wage cuts, a pension freeze and tax increases to reduce its huge fiscal deficit.

"There were clashes between police and protesters," the official said. "Police fired teargas. There were a few arrests."

Opposition to THE austerity measures has so far been relatively muted for a country with a tradition of street protests but one pollster said it should move quickly to counter a general sense of shock.

The private sector GSEE union and its sister public sector union ADEDY, which represent half of Greece"s 5-million workforce, called workers to stop work from midday on Friday and attend a rally outside parliament.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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