01/12/2011 13:52
Major strike in Greece
Greek schools shut, hospitals worked with minimal staff and train and bus service ground to a halt on Thursday as unions held their first major strike since a new national unity government took power last month, the Reuters reports.
Unions representing over half of Greece's 4 million-strong workforce called the general strike to protest new austerity measures that are expected to heap more misery on Greeks already reeling from waves of salary cuts, layoffs and tax hikes.
The measures, part of Greece's 2012 budget due to be approved by parliament this month, come against a backdrop of growing anger and frustration over the austerity medicine prescribed by foreign lenders in exchange for bailout loans.