in a controversial revival of 1989 marches that brought down the East German communist regime. Aside from Magdeburg, 15,000 marchers turned out Monday afternoon in Leipzig, marching under the banner "We are the People", which was the rallying call of anti-communist regime protest marches on Monday evenings in Leipzig 15 years ago. In eastern Germany unemployment is running twice the national rate of 10.5 per cent, and in many places it is nearly 50 per cent. Monday's protests despite Schroeder's cabinet moved to ease cuts of unemployment benefits. Schroeder ordered ministers back from vacation last Wednesday for an emergency cabinet session to water down the law, dubbed "Hartz IV" after Volkswagen executive Peter Hartz who is its architect. Changes to exemptions and a one-off payment in January are minor and do not alter the backbone of the law - but they will cost the government up to 800 million euros (nearly a billion dollars). --MORE 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT
