GREECE: A strike by port workers brings shipping to a halt while Finance Ministry employees continue their sit-in as protests against austerity measures continue

Record ID: 340544

  • Title: GREECE: A strike by port workers brings shipping to a halt while Finance Ministry employees continue their sit-in as protests against austerity measures continue
  • Date: 18th October 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MAN LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER STAND NEWSPAPERS HANGING HEADLINE READING ''The big week' NEWSPAPERS HANGING HEADLINE READING: 'The thriller week begins'
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece, Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA689843USF1AW91OGOCRZRBAZD
  • Story Text: Greek seamen began a 48-hour strike on Monday (October 17), bringing ferry services to a halt at the start of a week of protests expected to bring the country to a standstill.
    Dozens of ships and ferries remained stranded in the port throughout the day, effectively cutting off residents of smaller Greek islands without airports from the mainland. The strike also halted ferry traffic between Greece and its neighbours.
    Finance Ministry workers who have been occupying their offices for over a week, also announced an official strike until October 27 over wage cuts and lay-offs.
    Greece faces a crucial test this week, when much of the country is expected to be shut down by a 48-hour strike reaching a peak on Thursday, as parliament votes on a sweeping package of austerity measures demanded by international lenders.
    Greece's two main unions, representing about half the four million-strong workforce, have promised one of the biggest strikes since the country's economic crisis began two years ago, hitting food and fuel supplies, disrupting transport and leaving hospitals run by skeleton staff.
    Prime Minister George Papandreou, trailing badly in opinion polls, has defied the protests, pledging to push through a deeply unpopular package that includes tax rises, pay and pension cuts, job layoffs and changes to collective pay deals.
    His four-seat majority is expected to hold up with the support of smaller opposition parties, but at least two members of the ruling PASOK party may oppose part of the bill when the vote is called, probably in two stages on Wednesday and Thursday.
    On the streets of Athens, residents were divided over the government's ability to handle the crisis.
    "I think we have to be patient and wait and see if in the end we can succeed in pulling through," said pensioner Dimitris Paretos, who said parliament had to pass the austerity measures bill in order for the country to exit the debt crisis.
    But others disagreed.
    "I think we will have to go to elections, because Mr. Papandreou can't handle this alone any longer. Because I am sure that there will be even more measures later, they will pass more," said civil servant Thanasis Demis.
    With European Union leaders racing to prepare a comprehensive new bailout deal in time for a summit on October 23, the country's finance minister said this week would be crucial for Greece.
    One newspaper dubbed it a 'Thriller Week', referring to both the massive two-day strikes and the government's test to pass the controversial austerity bill through parliament.
    Trapped in deep recession and strangled by a public debt equivalent to some 162 percent of gross domestic product, Greece has been shut out of bond markets and could run out of money within weeks without international support.
    Many economists believe Athens can no longer avoid defaulting on its debt, but in a newspaper interview on Sunday, Papandreou said a default would be a "catastrophe" for Greece.
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