Hungarians protest against economic reforms

By Sandor Peto and Andras Gergely

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside Hungary's parliament on Wednesday after 10,000 workers staged strikes to try to halt Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's economic reforms.

Led by a six-hour stoppage from the powerful railway union, strikers blocked roads, halted trains and two bus lines, closed Budapest's airport and shut some schools. But parallel protests were smaller than expected and the government did not budge.

The strikes and demonstrations were backed by the main opposition Fidesz party, whose leader Viktor Orban said earlier this week that the ruling coalition, led by Gyurcsany's Socialists, could be forced out in six to nine months.

"I hate Gyurcsany. The more of us turn up, the stronger the hope is that there will be some change," Andras Mezei, 65, told Reuters outside parliament.

Unlike in France and Germany where unions have real muscle, Hungarian workers are unlikely to seriously challenge economic reforms, although Socialist deputies who have seen their party's poll ratings fall to as low as 15 percent have voiced worry.

The rail workers protested against rural line closures at state rail firm MAV, which loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and smaller unions aimed to halt health and pension reforms. But only two of the six main union groupings took part.

"The unions remain divided along political lines and their confidence rating within the society is relatively low," said Attila Gyulai, an analyst at consultancy Political Capital.

News agency MTI estimated the Budapest protest drew 5,000 people, versus up to 50,000 projected earlier by media. The government said that showed the strikes lacked support.