Greece on strike in new austerity protest

Greece came to a standstill Wednesday as a general strike took hold against planned new austerity measures by a government seeking a new slice of funding, following an international bailout last year.

Reuters/John Kolesidis

Thousands of protesters marched in Athens and other cities as the strike, organised by the private sector union GSEE and the public sector ADEDY, shut down state services and halted maritime, air, and train traffic.

“We strike to show our anger and our opposition to the policies that are being introduced and new measures that hit workers and labour instead of those with money,” said Stathis Anestis, a senior member of the confederation of Greek workers.

Greece has unveiled a new round of austerity measures to 2015 to keep Greece’s recession-hit economy afloat, but unions say that one year on from a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout which rescued Greece from bankruptcy Greeks are worse off.

The country pledged to reconstruct its economy last year after accepting the 110-billion euro loan from the EU/IMF.

Experts from the two bodies are currently in Athens for a financial audit to determine whether Greece merits a crucial new 12 billion slice of funding from last year’s bailout package.