Thursday 11 March 2010

Greece Brought to a Halt by Austerity Protest Strike

TIMES ONLINE: Much of Greece ground to a halt today as public and private sector unions called another general strike in opposition to tough government austerity measures and proposed pension reforms aimed at restoring fiscal order for the battered economy.

Traffic stopped moving around the centre of Athens with streets closed off as an estimated 20,000 demonstrators holding banners and chanting slogans marched towards the parliament building in Syntagma square. There were separate mass demonstrations in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

More than two million workers of the five million strong Greek workforce have walked off the job after a 24-hour nationwide general strike by ADEDY, the 800,000-strong civil servants’ union, was joined by the larger General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), which represents about two million workers in the private sector.

The mood was tense in parts of the capital as several hundred demonstrators aligned to anarchist or extreme leftist groups also took to the streets.

At one point, small groups of rock-throwing protestors clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse them. Although they constitute a relatively small minority of the largely peaceful but very vocal demonstrations, they were closely watched as they often clash with police or cause damage to property. >>> Philip Panaglos in Athens | Thursday, March 11, 2010

La Grèce paralysée par les grèves

LE FIGARO: Une grève nationale touchant les transports et les services publics continue de figer la Grèce pour le deuxième jour consécutif. Près de 10.000 personnes manifestent ce jeudi à Athènes contre le plan d'austérité.

La Grèce affronte ce jeudi sa deuxième journée de grève nationale, en moins d'une semaine. A l'appel des deux principaux syndicats du pays, les employés du secteur public et des transports ont cessé le travail pour protester contre le plan d'austérité. A Athènes, 10.000 manifestants défilent dans les rues, selon les chiffres de la police, aux cris de «pas de sacrifice pour la ploutocratie».

Les transports sont paralysés, le trafic aérien nul et les hôpitaux publics sont gérés par le personnel d'urgence. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Jeudi 11 Mars 2010

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Several articles and videos pertaining to the crisis in Greece >>>

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