Europe hit by waves of strikes

Huge protest rallies took place in Europe last night, namely in cities across Spain and today a general strike could paralyze Greece; while industrial action at French airports and oil plants as well as the narrowly averted stoppage at Germany's Lufthansa promise to be just the start of the greatest demonstration of public unrest seen on the continent since the revolutionary fervors of 1968.

The action will also shut schools, government offices and courtrooms, with disruption to banks, hospitals and state-owned companies. A strike by journalists is also planned, which promises to add to the mounting sense of chaos. In a tragic-comic touch, Greece's tax inspectors also took industrial action against their governments attempts to fix its finances.

Europe’s airline industry was gripped by a fresh wave of industrial action on Monday as British Airways cabin crew voted to strike and Lufthansa was forced to cancel hundreds of flights before finally persuading its pilots to suspend a four-day walkout, FT.com says.

In London, the Unite union, which represents BA’s 12,000-plus cabin crew, said there had been an “overwhelming” vote to strike over a series of cost-cutting moves the airline imposed last year, raising the prospect of a walkout any time from the beginning of next week.

In Frankfurt, a deal shelving further strikes until March 8 was thrashed out late on Monday after Lufthansa sought an emergency court injunction to halt a strike called by Vereinigung Cockpit, the pilots’ trade union, the source informs.