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Greek railway workers, doctors walk off the job over austerity cuts
Sep 29, 2010, 12:36 GMT
Athens - Greece braced itself Wednesday for demonstrations, as transport and health care workers went on strike to protest labour reforms proposed by the government.
Bus, trolley, tram and metro workers in the capital Athens held rolling strikes throughout the day, while national railway workers disrupted rail transport across the country after walking off the job at noon.
Doctors at state hospitals, meanwhile, refused to treat patients after calling a 24-hour strike. Pharmacists in Pireaus also closed shop to protest the government's plan to liberalise their profession.
Greece has promised to reform its labour market as part of austerity measures agreed to in exchange for a 110-billion-euro (150- billion-dollar) emergency funding package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The southern Mediterranean country is already suffering from two weeks of protests by truck drivers that have left supermarkets bare in major cities and on the islands.
Truck drivers have not backed down in their fight against plans to liberalise their profession - one of the most closed in Greece thanks to fixed rates and strict licensing rules - despite the government threatening to force them back to work or take away their licenses.
The country's civil-servant union ADEDY has called a 24-hour strike of its own for October 7.
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