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Scientists in Vladivostok blocked the city's main highway May 19 as part of a swelling protest movement across the region for back wages and better living conditions.

An estimated 200 members of the Russian Academy of Science gathered near the Academgorodok bus stop for two hours, demanding more government spending on science, better wages, and the federal government's resignation. Communists, pensioners, and others waving various right-wing party banners joined the crowd.

The protesters also propped up a classroom skeleton bearing a sign that read, "The result of scientific reforms."

"Here, like in the rest of the country, our federal leaders are driving us into the ground," said pensioner Nikolai Vashenko. "We must overthrow them in the name of the working people of Russia."

The federal government has drastically slashed science funding since 1991. Despite promises last year to double wages and increase pensions for science workers, Moscow continues to put off new expenses.

"It's laughable to talk about what we get," said Vera Kaminskaya, an analyst at the krai Institute of Biology and Pedology. "What do you think: Is $80 each month a normal wage?"

According to Yuri Kaplin, head if the region's Marine Corrosion Laboratory, cuts in science funding would lead to greater dependence on foreign technology. "They will sell us only those technologies they don't need, and we won't develop anything new," he said.

Despite these concerns, the spirit at the demonstration was subdued. "Protests like this don't help," Kaminskaya said. "But our leaders think it's a form of protest, so we've got to support them."

Traffic in the Second River region was snarled for the duration of the strike. Still, protesters were allowed to carry out the demonstration because they got city hall permission last week to block the road.

Local police rerouted traffic from a distance of a mile on either side of the gathering.

The protest followed recent miners' hunger strike in Partizansk, as well as mounting threats from doctors and teachers to stop working in protest of conditions in Russia.