Greeks in fresh general strike against austerity

2013-02-20 08:26:01

Greece is being hit by the first general strike of 2013 as workers renew their

protest over austerity measures.

The 24-hour strike is forcing the closure of schools and state-run offices and

leaving hospitals working with emergency staff.

The strike has been called by Greece's two biggest labour unions, representing

half the four million-strong workforce.

It comes days before international lenders are due in Athens to discuss the

next instalment of a bailout.

The debt-ridden country is being kept afloat by billions of euros from other

eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

In return, the government has imposed waves of unpopular spending cuts and tax

rises, hitting pay and pensions and sending unemployment soaring to more than

26%.

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Our struggle will continue for as long as these policies are implemented

Greek private sector union GSEE

Strikes and violent protests have become commonplace.

Greece's coalition government managed to secure the latest tranche of bailout

money at the end of last year, and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told the

BBC he believed the worst was over for his country.

However, the BBC's Athens correspondent Mark Lowen says that Wednesday's strike

is a reminder that government confidence of a slowly improving economic

situation is not shared by many on the streets.

Marches

Union leaders say they are angry at the job cuts and tax rises being demanded

by Greece's international lenders.

"The (strike) is our answer to the dead-end policies that have squeezed the

life out of workers, impoverished society and plunged the economy into

recession and crisis," the private sector union GSEE said in a statement.

"Our struggle will continue for as long as these policies are implemented," it

said.

The union is organising the walkout with public sector union Adedy.

Several marches are due to culminate in protests outside parliament in Syntagma

square, Athens, where violent clashes have broken out on previous occasions.

Our correspondent says the only difference between Wednesday's strike and

earlier protests is that public transport has been for the most part

unaffected. Buses are still operating and air traffic controllers are not on

strike, he says.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's eight-month-old government has taken a tough

line on strikers, invoking emergency law twice this year to order seamen and

metro staff back to work.

But despite such measures, strikes have recently picked up.

A one-day visit by French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday went largely

unreported because Greek journalists downed tools.

Our correspondent says more than 20 general strikes since the crisis erupted

have failed to halt austerity - and this one is unlikely to be any different.