(RTTNews) - Rail and road traffic in Greek cities were seriously affected for hours on Tuesday as transport workers' strike in protest against the government plans to reorganize transport companies entered the second day on Tuesday.
Tram, bus, and train services were halted in capital Athens and the northern port city of Thessaloniki. Heavy road blocks have been reported in Athens.
More traffic chaos is in store as workers will continue to halt all public transportation for 24 hours on Thursday.
Meanwhile, bank workers began two-day strike protesting the government's austerity measures on Tuesday.
As Prime Minister George Papandreou heard opposition leaders' concerns over the cost-cutting measures in the parliament on Tuesday, thousands of protesters held anti-government demonstrations outside.
Unions are stepping up opposition to a new law that will overhaul the labor market and cut public sector salaries in line with directives of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Greece's major private and public-sector labor unions have called a 24-hour general strike for Wednesday, when an emergency meeting of the Greek Parliament is due to vote on the new law, which envisages a limit on gross monthly salaries at 4,000 euros, and a 10 per cent cut on salaries over 1,800 euros of all government-owned companies.
Hundreds of domestic and international flights are expected to ground as air traffic controllers are joining the nationwide stir.
The main journalists' union in Greece -- ESHEA -- is observing a pen-down strike in solidarity with the country's labor force. Their walkout extends up to Friday.
The Greek government had been taking a number of austerity measures since March to battle its budget-deficit crisis, inviting a series of anti-government protests.
A new package of public-sector pay-cuts and tax hikes envisages saving an extra €4.8 billion ($6.6 billion), equivalent to two per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). In July, the Greek Parliament approved legislation to overhaul public and private-sector pensions.
Prime Minister George Papandreou had no other option but to adopt additional cost-cutting measures as part of a €110-billion ($150-billion) loan deal with the European Union, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Last month, European Central Bank and the IMF asked the Greek government to make an "extra effort" to cut its 2011 budget deficit.
It was followed by a dictate on Athens to speed up tax reforms.
by RTT Staff Writer
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