12/09/2012 18:22
24 hour protest in Greece
A barrage of strikes hit Greece as the government struggled to finalize a new austerity package with international creditors and sought to jumpstart a privatization drive delayed for months.
Teachers, hospital doctors and municipal staff kicked off separate protests against planned cutbacks and job losses as civil servants and security staff prepared to demonstrate later in the day, AFP reports.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has called his coalition partners to a 1630 GMT meeting with time running out for Athens to finalize about 11.5 billion euros (HK$114.7 billion) in cuts in 2013-14 to unblock access to EU-IMF loans.
News reports said that the government was under intense pressure from its troika of creditors – the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank – to cut pensions and severance pay and revise working hours.