Police protest new pay cuts in Greece, block facility
ATHENS, Greece - Protesting police officers in Greece, angry at a new austerity measures, have defied their own colleagues in the riot police and blocked the entrance of one of their own stations.
About 50 members of the Greek Police Officers' Association picketed police facilities at Zografou, northeast of central Athens, preventing buses used for transporting riot police from leaving the site. The buses are scheduled to go to the northern city of Thessaloniki, where weekend anti-austerity demonstrations are planned.
The police protesters oppose salary cuts to be included in a new €11.5 billion ($14.4 billion) austerity package for 2013-14.
Later Thursday, they are planning a protest rally in central Athens with officers in uniform joined by colleagues from the Coast Guard and Fire Service.
