Several European Union member countries saw strike action on Wednesday as citizens protested governmental decisions to use austerity measures to reduce debt. The measures have led to hundreds of thousands of workers seeing their salaries, pensions, and benefits slashed. The strike was called by the European Trade Union Confederation which has members in 36 countries. The world has already watched strike action unfold over the last two years in Spain, Greece, and Italy, but yesterday those countries were joined by workers in France, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and other nations. Most of the protests remained peaceful, but some protests in Spain and Italy did see riot police descending on protesters using rubber bullets and tear gas. Wednesday’s strike was the second in Spain this year and nearly shut down the entire country with workers from many sectors participating. Seventy-four people were injured during a clash with police in Madrid.