Two-day strike to paralyze services
Unions are to scale up their protests and walkouts on Tuesday ahead of a two-day general strike on Wednesday and Thursday, expected to be marked by vehement protests in the runup to a vote on new austerity measures in Parliament.
On Tuesday there will be no service on the national railway and the suburban railway (Proastiakos), and ferries will remain in port. Transport disruption will peak on Wednesday and Thursday, when staff join the general strike, and protests are expected to choke central Athens. There will be limited services however so demonstrators can attend rallies. The electric railway will run between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday and from 9 a.m. onward on Thursday. The metro will be working from 9 a.m. onward on both strike days but will not serve the route between Doukissis Plakentias and Athens Airport. The tram will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both strike days. Workers on buses and trolley buses are to announce their strike schedules on Tuesday. The national railway will also halt on the two strike days, there will be no taxis and all flights will be grounded.
But not only transport will be affected.
A strike by customs officials, to continue through Thursday, may affect food and fuel supplies. Complicating matters, gas stations will be shut on Wednesday.
Bank staff and tax inspectors are to strike through Thursday too. Teachers and doctors will walk off the job on the two strike days and most shops will close. Judges are to hold rolling work stoppages.
A journalists? strike today will cause a broadcast media blackout and will mean that no newspapers circulate on Wednesday.
On Monday civil servants continued sit-ins at nine ministries and several state agencies.
