Germans Agree with Anti-Reform Protesters

Most Germans sympathize with the demonstrations against the government's so-called "Hartz IV" labor market reforms, which have taken place in numerous German cities over the past four Mondays, a survey by polling institute Forsa has shown. Seventy-one percent of those polled agreed with the protests, while 25 percent did not. Opinions differed in east and west, with more eastern Germans expressing criticism of the reforms and more westerners being circumspect about the demonstrations. All told, 46 percent said the reforms were more right than wrong and 42 percent said the opposite. Nearly two-thirds of those polled (72 percent) felt they weren't well informed about the reforms.