A general strike gripped Greece today in protest against new austerity measures demanded with increasing urgency by the European Union as part of a debt rescue deal with banks.
Thousands of protesters braving a light rain assembled on Syntagma Square in central Athens, a landmark of Greek anger against austerity measures from the EU and International Monetary Fund.
Greece is at the limit of a timetable to agree new budget action, and to conclude a debt-write-off deal with banks, under a second rescue package which it needs to avoid debt default in about six weeks' time.
"No to public sector layoffs!", "No to to cutting the minimum wage!", protest banners said as part of a 24-hour strike against severe budget action that had begun under the slogan "That's enough, we can't take any more."
There was only a skeleton service operating in schools, ministries, hospitals and banks while commuters using buses and metros faced major delays in Athens. Air travel was expected to be unaffected however.
Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of the GSEE union, has described the measures as a "death sentence" for the country, aimed at slashing ...
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