Greeks walk off job in general strike over reforms

[June 29, 2010]  ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Public services shut down across Greece Tuesday as workers walked off the job in a new nationwide general strike that disrupted public transport, left hospitals operating on emergency staff and pulled all news broadcasts off the air.

More than 12,000 protesters held separate rallies and demonstrations in central Athens against draft legislation that would increase retirement ages and make it cheaper for companies to fire workers. The measures are aimed at fixing the country's debt crisis, which has shaken the entire euro zone.

The Civil Protection Ministry said about 5,000-6,000 protesters participated in a march by the Communist Party-backed PAME union, while 3,000 gathered for a demonstration by Greece's two main labor unions and another 4,000 by fringe left-wing parties.

"They've declared war on you, fight back!" PAME demonstrators chanted as they walked down a major avenue in the center of the capital.

The marches began peacefully. Protests during previous strikes have turned violent, and three employees died on May 5 in a bank torched by rioters.

Greece is caught in a major debt and deficit crisis; it avoided bankruptcy last month only after receiving the first installment of a euro110 billion ($136 billion) emergency loan package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

In return, Athens passed painful austerity measures, cutting pensions and salaries and raising consumer taxes, and is now pushing through labor and social security reforms.

Tuesday's strike disrupted public transport, with bus, metro and tram drivers walking off the job for several hours. The country's airports, however, remained open, and international flights were operating normally although nearly 100 domestic flights were canceled.

All news broadcasts were pulled off the air for the day, while no newspapers would be printed for Wednesday as journalists walked off the job until Wednesday morning.

Tension mounted once more in the country's main port of Piraeus, where hundreds of PAME demonstrators attempted to prevent tourists and locals from boarding ferries to Aegean islands, even though a court had declared seamen's participation in the strike illegal.

"They want to put us in a straitjacket so we work for free all our lives so that some can have their wealth and get very rich at our expense," said Sotiris Poulikogiannis, a protester in Piraeus. "We don't accept this. Day by day we'll grow stronger and more aware of how to overturn this situation."

The Civil Protection Ministry said all ships scheduled to leave in the morning did set sail, with about 350 passengers. However, about 50-100 people didn't manage to board their ferries as strikers prevented them from entering the port. Authorities said their tickets would also be valid Wednesday.

Another four ships that were to sail for Crete and the Cycladic islands in the early afternoon had informed passengers that they would depart at midnight, the ministry said.

A similar strike by two seamen's unions last week -- which was also declared illegal -- left thousands of travelers stranded in Piraeus for a day. Shipping companies and officials in Greece's vital tourism industry strongly criticized the government for not taking action to stop the strikers.

Parliament is scheduled to start discussing the proposed reforms Tuesday, in a debate expected to last more than a week. Despite opposition from several of its own lawmakers, the center-left government -- which holds a seven-seat majority in the 300-member house -- is expected to win the final vote.

[Associated Press; By ELENA BECATOROS]

Associated Press Television producer Nathalie Rendevski Savaricas in Piraeus contributed.

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