Greek hauliers defy government, vow to continue strike (1st Lead)

Jul 30, 2010, 14:25 GMT

Athens - Greek truck drivers ignored an emergency order to return to work on Friday after a five-day strike, escalating the plight of tens of thousands of tourists and Greeks left stranded by petrol shortages.

Some 35,000 drivers walked off the job on Monday to protest a bill which will cut licence charges and open up their profession, a reform required by the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a multi-billion euro bailout that saved the country from defaulting on its debt.

Hundreds of protesting drivers marched through heavy traffic towards parliament, following the truckers' general assembly on Friday afternoon.

'We will not back down and have decided to continue the strike,' union leader Giorgos Tzortatos told journalists.

The government ordered the strikers on Wednesday to return to work after negotiations between the drivers and the government broke down, saying they had 24 hours to comply or risk criminal persecution and loss of their licences.

The walkout has depleted petrol station supplies and caused a severe shortage of fresh food across the country as well as hitting the vital tourism industry, with many visitors cancelling plans for vacations in the southern Mediterranean country.

Reports said hundreds of rented cars were left abandoned on the side of the road on many Greek islands after they had run out of petrol.

Meanwhile thousands of tourists, mainly from Serbia and Bulgaria, who drove to Greece for their holidays have been stranded as petrol stations dried up.

Reports said that at least 100,000 Serbs were stuck in Greece, mainly in the northern Aegean - the Halkidiki peninsula and the island of Thassos.

Many Serb tourists said fuel was available on the black market for up to five euros for a litre of unleaded, around three times higher than the normal price.

News of the strike at the start of the week sent thousands of Athenians and Greeks in other parts of the country panicking for fuel, leading to long queues at petrol stations.

Greece's main labour unions have since February staged repeated strikes against the tough austerity measures and reforms the country has agreed with its euro zone partners and the IMF in exchange for a 110-billion-euro (138 billion dollar) economic bailout.

A team of EU, IMF and European Central Bank officials are currently in Athens to monitor progress and decide whether to release the second installment of the emergency package in September, totalling 9 billion euros.

Under the terms of the bailout, Greece must open up many closed professions to competition, including road freight, lawyers and cruise ship crews by September.

Last month, striking cruise ship crews closed down parts of Greece's largest port of Piraeus during the busy tourism season.