Dec 13 (Reuters) - Here are details of recent and forthcoming protests in European countries against austerity policies and other grievances, as Greek public transport workers went on strike on Monday:
GREECE:
May 4-5 - Public-sector workers staged a 48-hour strike. A 50,000-strong protest in Athens led to violence and three people died in a petrol bomb attack on a bank.
June 29 - Police fired tear gas at rioters shouting "Burn parliament!" in Athens. About 12,000 people joined marches during a strike against raising the retirement age to 65.
July 8 - About 12,000 people marched against pension reform in the unions' sixth 24-hour strike against austerity measures.
Dec. 2 - Police fired teargas during clashes with over 1,000 students, who tried to break through a police cordon to march on the British embassy. They were protesting in solidarity with British students and against austerity and education reforms.
Dec. 6 - Police clashed with youths hurling petrol bombs in Athens during protests to mark the anniversary of the 2008 police killing of a teenager.
Dec. 13 - Public transport and media workers launched a week of anti-austerity strikes expected to ground flights, disrupt services and pile rubbish on the streets.
-- Public buses and the Athens subway stopped for six hours. Workers at the state broadcaster ERT joined the walkout. Staff at the state-owned ATEbank went on rolling 24-hour strikes.
-- Protests will peak on Dec. 15, when the main public and private sector unions have called a 24-hour general strike.
BRITAIN:
Oct. 19 - Trade unions took protests over spending cuts to parliament, promising to fight to protect public services.
Nov. 10 - About 55,000 students protested in London against government plans to raise the cap on university tuition fees almost threefold to 9,000 pounds ($14,000). Windows were smashed and missiles hurled at police at the ruling Conservative Party's headquarters. About 66 people were arrested.
Nov. 24 - Thousands of students staged walkouts and marches across Britain against the tuition fee increases.
Nov. 28 - Workers on London's underground system staged a 24-hour strike over job cuts, the fourth since September. Dec. 9 - Parliament voted to raise tuition fees as thousands of students and others laid siege to the government district, leading to some of the worst scenes of protest violence for years. A limousine carrying Prince Charles and his wife was attacked by protesters. -- Police have arrested some 175 people in connection with the student protests.
CZECH REPUBLIC:
Dec. 8 - Czech public sector workers went on strike against government plans to cut the sector's wage bill by 10 percent. A union leader said 123,000 workers out of about 600,000 public sector employees joined the strike.
IRELAND:
Nov. 27 - Thousands took to the streets of Dublin to protest against a bailout plan. The EU approved an 85 billion euro ($115 billion) rescue package the next day.
SPAIN:
Sept 29 - Spain's first general strike in eight years, called to oppose spending cuts, disrupted transport and factories but the impact was limited.
Dec. 2 - A strike by air traffic controllers paralysed airports, disrupting travel for 250,000 people on one of Spain's busiest holiday weekends and leading authorities to declare a state of emergency. The government is pushing through reforms and spending cuts to rein in a deficit and ward off market fears that it may need a bailout similar to Ireland's.
ITALY:
Nov. 30 - Thousands of students marched through Rome, vowing to resist planned education reforms.
PORTUGAL:
Nov. 24 - Portugal's biggest unions, the CGTP and the UGT, disrupted transport and halted services from healthcare to banking in protest against wage cuts and rising unemployment. It was their first joint general strike since 1988.
FRANCE:
-- Waves of protests and strikes by France's trade unions and the public turned pension reform into the biggest battle of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency.
-- The reform was signed into law on Nov. 9. It raised the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 and the full retirement age to 67 from 65 in an effort to balance the loss-ridden pension system by 2018. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; David Stamp, Editing by Jonny Hogg and Kevin Liffey)