Spanish public workers strike against govt cuts

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MADRID, June 8 (AFP): Garbage went uncollected and hospital care was reduced in Spain Tuesday as tens of thousands of public workers went on strike to protest austerity cuts intended to rein in a public deficit that has rattled global financial markets.
Unions representing the country's roughly 2.6 million public workers, ranging from doctors to street cleaners, called the strike last month after the government unveiled another 15 billion euros (18 billion dollars) in spending cuts over two years.
The austerity measures -- intended to ease worries the country will need an international rescue package like the one provided to Greece earlier this year -- include average cuts this year to public workers' salaries of five per cent.
They also include a freeze on their salaries next year, a suspension in automatic inflation-adjustments for old age pensions and the elimination of 2,500-euro tax break for couples that have a new baby.