Post by pieter on Jun 29, 2010 15:41:45 GMT -7
Clashes in Greece as thousands protest in general strike
Published on 29 June 2010 - 6:10pm
Anti-austerity demonstrations in Greece turned violent on Tuesday as the fifth general strike this year disrupted ferry, air and rail departures and condemned travellers to fresh misery.
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest cuts to public sector pay and pensions aimed at shoring up Greek finances, burdened by a huge public debt and deficit.
A confrontation at the main protest in Athens broke out when a group of neo-Nazis approached the demonstration and police later fired tear gas as they were pelted with pieces of broken masonry by a few dozen protesters.
Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Athens, the Greek capital [AFP]
Police said seven officers were injured in the protest and six people were arrested. Two banks and three shops had their windows smashed, a police statement said.
In a separate incident, a policeman was taken away by ambulance after being hit by a stone, but authorities said his injuries were not serious.
While over 15,000 protesters marched in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki according to police, several thousand travellers could not sail for the Greek islands from the port of Piraeus due to a Communist blockade.
At least six scheduled ferry services to the Aegean were cancelled though a strong police guard enabled seven ships to sail earlier, the Coast Guard said.
Some 500 Communist-affiliated strikers at the harbour also blocked the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.
There was tension in Piraeus as ferries were blocked
Greece's main airlines grounded nearly 50 of Tuesday's domestic flights because of the strike while rail access to Athens airport was also impeded. Intercity trains also ran a reduced service along with hospitals and state offices shut down altogether.
No news was broadcast as journalists joined the action.
On June 23, another one-day protest had stranded thousands of travellers at Piraeus, one of the Mediterranean Sea's busiest ports, for hours.
The recurring labour unrest has cost Greece booking cancellations and millions of euros in damages at a time when the debt-hit nation is struggling to maximise its revenues and revive its flagging economy.
A court late on Monday declared the ferry strike illegal but the Communist party and its related syndicates shrugged off the ruling.
Tourism contributes 17 percent of Greece's gross domestic product.
The government recently pledged to compensate travellers stranded in the country by labour unrest but no details on these payments have emerged so far.
The street protests were muted compared to those of recent months against EU and IMF-mandated pay and pension cuts.
The main demonstration in Athens called by the country's largest labour unions and leftist parties attracted around 5,000 participants, police said.
About 4,000 people of all ages, down to babies in prams, had marched in the capital earlier under another protest called by Communist-affiliated workers.
A union source placed the figure of Athens demonstrators at 35,000.
Communist rally in Greece
A giant banner on a crane hung over the protesters, calling on the ruling Socialists to scrap an accord with Brussels and the IMF that secured a huge bailout loan for Greece in return for sweeping pay and pension cuts.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty," read another banner.
Another 7,000 people marched in two separate demonstrations in the main northern city of Thessaloniki according to the police.
The unions warn that the working and middle class cannot cope with the austerity measures as the country is caught in a spiralling recession and the jobless rate is steadily growing.
"Society has reached its limits," said the chairman of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Yiannis Panagopoulos.
Yiannis Panagopoulos at a demonstation in March 2010
The latest measure, a disputed pension reform that raises the general retirement age to 65 years for both men and women for the first time, was to be discussed in parliament on Tuesday ahead of a vote on its approval expected on July 8.
© ANP/AFP
Published on 29 June 2010 - 6:10pm
Anti-austerity demonstrations in Greece turned violent on Tuesday as the fifth general strike this year disrupted ferry, air and rail departures and condemned travellers to fresh misery.
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest cuts to public sector pay and pensions aimed at shoring up Greek finances, burdened by a huge public debt and deficit.
A confrontation at the main protest in Athens broke out when a group of neo-Nazis approached the demonstration and police later fired tear gas as they were pelted with pieces of broken masonry by a few dozen protesters.
Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Athens, the Greek capital [AFP]
Police said seven officers were injured in the protest and six people were arrested. Two banks and three shops had their windows smashed, a police statement said.
In a separate incident, a policeman was taken away by ambulance after being hit by a stone, but authorities said his injuries were not serious.
While over 15,000 protesters marched in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki according to police, several thousand travellers could not sail for the Greek islands from the port of Piraeus due to a Communist blockade.
At least six scheduled ferry services to the Aegean were cancelled though a strong police guard enabled seven ships to sail earlier, the Coast Guard said.
Some 500 Communist-affiliated strikers at the harbour also blocked the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.
There was tension in Piraeus as ferries were blocked
Greece's main airlines grounded nearly 50 of Tuesday's domestic flights because of the strike while rail access to Athens airport was also impeded. Intercity trains also ran a reduced service along with hospitals and state offices shut down altogether.
No news was broadcast as journalists joined the action.
On June 23, another one-day protest had stranded thousands of travellers at Piraeus, one of the Mediterranean Sea's busiest ports, for hours.
The recurring labour unrest has cost Greece booking cancellations and millions of euros in damages at a time when the debt-hit nation is struggling to maximise its revenues and revive its flagging economy.
A court late on Monday declared the ferry strike illegal but the Communist party and its related syndicates shrugged off the ruling.
Tourism contributes 17 percent of Greece's gross domestic product.
The government recently pledged to compensate travellers stranded in the country by labour unrest but no details on these payments have emerged so far.
The street protests were muted compared to those of recent months against EU and IMF-mandated pay and pension cuts.
The main demonstration in Athens called by the country's largest labour unions and leftist parties attracted around 5,000 participants, police said.
About 4,000 people of all ages, down to babies in prams, had marched in the capital earlier under another protest called by Communist-affiliated workers.
A union source placed the figure of Athens demonstrators at 35,000.
Communist rally in Greece
A giant banner on a crane hung over the protesters, calling on the ruling Socialists to scrap an accord with Brussels and the IMF that secured a huge bailout loan for Greece in return for sweeping pay and pension cuts.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty," read another banner.
Another 7,000 people marched in two separate demonstrations in the main northern city of Thessaloniki according to the police.
The unions warn that the working and middle class cannot cope with the austerity measures as the country is caught in a spiralling recession and the jobless rate is steadily growing.
"Society has reached its limits," said the chairman of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Yiannis Panagopoulos.
Yiannis Panagopoulos at a demonstation in March 2010
The latest measure, a disputed pension reform that raises the general retirement age to 65 years for both men and women for the first time, was to be discussed in parliament on Tuesday ahead of a vote on its approval expected on July 8.
© ANP/AFP