Athens, Greece – A 24-hour nationwide strike is underway in Greece to show their discontent to planned pension and labour reforms aimed at helping solve the debt crisis in the country.
Greek government targets pensioners and workers for austerity measures.
The 24-hour general strike in Greece effected many areas in the country including disruptions to public transport, hospitals left operating with emergency staff and all news broadcasts were pulled of the air.
The strike came close to the date where the Greek parliament is due to debate austerity measures which was demanded by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and EU (European Union) who offered to give (a so called) bailout funding to the country to help with the financial crisis in Greece.
The IMF and EU demanded austerity measures by the Greek government for €110 billion promised by the two organizations. The measures include raising the retirement age, cutting pensions and making it easier for companies to dismiss employees.
There were some reports of violence as riot police were reported to have fired tear gas and stun grenades to groups of rebellious protesters who had broken marble off a metro station and through it at police.
Some bins were also set on fire but in general the protests were reported to have taken place largely peacefully as there was no arrested or injured.
Tuesday’s protests came after the countries two major labour unions and left-wing groups organized protests with some 10,000 people taking part.
The Communist Party-backed PAME union also organized a protest with some 6,000 people, where a fraction of the group blocked the entrance of the Athens’ port in nearby Piraeus disrupting plans of holiday makers.
