WORLD IN BRIEF : ROMANIA : Workers Protest Economic Reforms

Tens of thousands of angry Romanian workers rallied nationwide to protest the government’s painful economic reforms. The demonstrations were among the largest by workers since the overthrow of the Communist dictatorship in December, 1989. Protests have intensified in the two months since Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu’s government announced plans to amend reforms and end most remaining price subsidies May 1. Hundreds of trucks and buses, their horns blaring, jammed Aviators Square in downtown Bucharest, the capital. About 20,000 workers shouted anti-government slogans and threatened to strike for higher pay and better social security guarantees. They also demanded intervention to rescue failing, Communist-era state industries.