GREECE: Ports, state banks and other municipal and government offices are shut down as the country prepares for a 48-hour general strike

Record ID: 339352

  • Title: GREECE: Ports, state banks and other municipal and government offices are shut down as the country prepares for a 48-hour general strike
  • Date: 19th October 2011
  • Summary: PIRAEUS, GREECE (OCTOBER 18, 2001) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SHIPS ANCHORED AT PORT ATHENS, GREECE (OCTOBER 18, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RAILWAY TRACKS VARIOUS OF EMPTY RAILWAY PLATFORMS VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF CLOSED BANK RUBBISH PILED UP IN THE STREET VARIOUS OF RUBBISH OVERFLOWING FROM BIN ATHENS CENTRAL SQUARE WITH PARLIAMENT IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKI
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece, Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3KXZEGOGBHVKFLWTW18VHAIP8
  • Story Text: A Greek ports strike entered a second day on Tuesday (October 18) and many public sector workers walked off the job as the debt-ravaged country headed for a standstill.
    In the port city of Piraeus, ships and ferries remained stranded for a second day after Greece's Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) went on strike. The 48-hour action cuts off residents of smaller Greek islands without airports from the mainland and brings ferry traffic between Greece and its neighbours to a halt.
    Employees of state-controlled banks announced a 24-hour strike and rubbish piled high in the streets of Athens, blocking streets and pavements, as part of an ongoing municipal workers strike launched on October 5.
    Cross-country and suburban railway were also shut down.
    In Athens, finance ministry workers walked off the job for a second day, in a show of force which expected to continue until October 27. They staged a protest outside their office.
    Anti-austerity strikes and demonstrations have escalated in recent weeks across the country.
    Public discontent is fuelled by the sweeping austerity measures and the new package which expected to include more tax rises, pay and pension cuts as well as job layoffs and changes to collective pay deals, which the government says are essential to secure a loan instalment and avert bankruptcy.
    Greece's two main unions, representing about half the four million-strong workforce, prepared for one of the biggest protests since the crisis began two years ago, likely to hit food and fuel supplies, disrupt transport and leave hospitals run by skeleton staff.
    The 48-hour general strike is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (October 19-20) to coincide with a vote on a deeply unpopular package of austerity measures demanded by international lenders.
    The vote in parliament is expected to take place in two stages on both days.
    Papandreou's four-seat majority is expected to hold up with the support of smaller opposition parties but at least one more member of the ruling PASOK party may oppose part of the bill.
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