Nationwide strike

Greek unions are set to make a show of strength on Wednesday in a nationwide strike against austerity measures aimed at pulling the debt-plagued country out of its worst postwar financial crisis. --PHOTO: AP
ATHENS - GREEK unions are set to make a show of strength on Wednesday in a nationwide strike against austerity measures aimed at pulling the debt-plagued country out of its worst postwar financial crisis.

In the first general strike since the center-left government's election in October, all flights to and from Greek airports have been canceled, while trains and ferries will be idle.

Millions of Athenian commuters will be left without most forms of public transport. Public schools, tax offices and municipal offices will be closed, while public hospitals will function on emergency staff. Journalists are also holding a 24-hour strike, and two separate demonstrations are planned for central Athens.

The country's two largest umbrella labor groups, the private sector GSEE and public sector ADEDY, fiercely oppose a wave of belt-tightening measures announced over the past weeks to reduce the bloated budget deficit from 12.7 per cent of GDP to 8.7 per cent this year.

Greece's woes have affected confidence in the euro as a common currency, and hiked the country's borrowing costs. The governing Socialists have frozen civil service wages and hiring while cutting bonuses, hiking consumer taxes and raising retirement ages.

The government, however, facing a March 16 deadline from the European Union to show signs of fiscal improvement, is under pressure to take additional measures. These could include a hike in the Value Added Tax, currently at 19 per cent, and further civil service bonus cuts. -- AP