Mass strikes cause chaos across Greece
GREEK public transport and media workers launched a week of anti-austerity strikes yesterday expected to ground flights, disrupt services and pile rubbish on the streets in the run-up to Christmas holidays.
Parliament began discussing a bill to cap wages at state-run firms and introduce company-level wage bargaining in the private sector, both key elements in a €110bn (£93bn) bailout agreement with the EU and the IMF.
Public buses across the country and the Athens subway stopped operating for six hours yesterday, while workers at the state broadcaster ERT joined the walkout and staff at the state-owned ATEbank went on rolling 24-hour strikes.
Protests will peak tomorrow, when the main labour unions from the public and private sector have called a 24-hour general strike. Flights will be grounded and all state services disrupted.