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New general strike over Greek austerity program

May 11, 4:40 AM (ET)

By ELENA BECATOROS

(AP) A man looks through and closed and padlocked gate at a passengers entrance in Piraeus port near...
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Most public services in Greece ground to a halt Wednesday and transport was disrupted as labor unions held a new general strike to protest the government's introduction of harsh austerity measures intended to keep the debt-ridden country solvent.

This month, the government is planning to pass further measures aimed at saving an estimated euro23 billion ($33 billion) through 2015.

All train and ferry services were suspended, while an air traffic controllers strike was due to ground flights between noon and 4 p.m. In Athens, public transport workers started a series of walkouts that were due to last several hours.

About 3,000 members of the Communist-led PAME union marched through central Athens, while the country's two main unions were planning another demonstration shortly later. The marches will be closely monitored by police as previous protests have degenerated into riots.


(AP) A man and a woman carry their luggage as they pass next a moored ship in Piraeus port near Athens...
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Some banks were shut but others remained open for business, their fronts protected by half rolled down shutters in anticipation of the demonstrations.

For the time being, Greece is shielded from insolvency by a euro110 billion ($158 billion) package of rescue loans in a 2010-2013 program from its European Union partners and International Monetary Fund.

But despite drastic spending cuts - with reductions to pensions and salaries accompanied by increase in taxes and retirement ages - the nation may need additional support to meet its financing needs next year, as the cost of borrowing from bond markets remains sky-high.

Parliament is expected to vote on the new round of cutbacks later this month. The governing Socialists have also committed themselves to an ambitious - but so far nebulous - privatization program worth a total euro50 billion ($72 billion) over the next few years.

However, many promised reforms have not yet been implemented.


(AP) A man sits in front of moored ships in Piraeus port near Athens during a 24-hour strike on...
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The protracted austerity, amid a two-year recession and unemployment at around 15 percent, has angered unions, which have held more than half a dozen general strikes over the past year.

A statement from the country's largest union, the GSEE, said Wednesday's strike expresses "strong protest at the unjust and cruel policies that have caused a surge in unemployment ... violated labor rights, and squandered public wealth, while failing to insure an exit from recession."

In Athens' port of Piraeus, Greece's biggest, striking ferry electrician Athanassios Sidiropoulos said the government was trying to scrap rights won over the course of decades by working classes.

"All seamen should have pension and healthcare rights, collective labor contracts, healthcare contributions," he said.

An opinion poll commissioned by the private Mega TV station and published Tuesday said 71 percent of the public oppose the government's handling of the economic crisis, compared with 66 percent in February.

The Socialists' 18-month-old government held a slender lead over the main opposition conservatives. Details on the number of people questioned in the poll and its margin of error were not provided.