Thousands of Greeks went on strike Thursday, crippling the country’s public and private sector in an action against the government’s economic policies
The country’s two biggest unions led marchers through the centre of Athens, chanting slogans against spending cuts.
The strike was organized by Greece’s two major trade unions – the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the Confederation of Public Servants (ADEDY) – which represent more than half of the country’s 4.5 million workforce.
The 24-hour nationwide walkout is the latest show of opposition to austerity measures proposed by the Karamanlis government.
“This strike is Greece’s response to the G-20 summit in London,” said Stathis Anestis, a spokesman for the country’s confederation of workers. “Those who created the crisis,” he said, “are now trying to fix it, and the solutions they’re handing down to governments like ours are not to be trusted.”
‘Workers demand a change in government policy. The crisis should be paid by those people who caused it and not by workers,” said Spiros Papaspyrou, President of the the Confederation of Public Servants.
Thursday’s strike grounded more than 160 domestic and international flights. Across the country, commercial ships remained anchored at harbors while the Athens subway system, urban buses and trolleys operated briefly to allow protesters to travel to the center of the city to take part in protest marches.
Teachers, bankers and public servants also stayed away from work as state-run hospitals operated on skeleton staff and public utilities corporations shut their client-service departments for the day. A 24-hour news blackout was ordered by the country’s powerful journalists’ union.
The walkout follows a government decision earlier this month to freeze public sector salaries of more than 1,700 euros a month and impose a one-off tax on high income earners.
It also follows a wave of private-sector layoffs that the confederation of workers predicts will reach 150,000 — 16 percent of the country’s labor force — by the end of the year.
“The government is doing nothing to safeguard our jobs and labor rights,” Mr. Anestis said. “To the contrary, it’s squeezing our incomes.”
Nearly 20 percent of Greeks earn less than 5,000 euros a year, according to government statistics, and the country’s huge debt has stifled the government’s ability to provide a stimulus package for the poor.
