Some two million Greek workers participated in a general strike on Wednesday. The mass one-day action was called in response to austerity measures being imposed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) government of Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Elected last October on the basis of populist appeals to working class anger over the policies of the previous conservative government, Papandreou quickly bowed to demands from the European Union and the international banks to impose drastic cuts in jobs, wages and social programs in order to stave off a default of government debt by slashing Greece’s soaring budget deficit.
The strike reflected widespread popular opposition to the austerity program, which is being roundly criticized by the European Commission and financial interests as insufficiently harsh. The mass action brought the country to a virtual standstill.
All flights to and from Greece—with the exception of emergency flights—were cancelled, as air traffic controllers joined the action, forcing the closure of the nation’s main airport, Athens International. Public transportation was severely disrupted, with the Athens metro and bus services running only a skeleton service to allow strikers to get to demonstrations in the city centre. Trains and ferry services ground to a halt.
Public schools, tax offices, courtrooms and other government buildings were closed nationwide, as were public hospitals and other state-run facilities. All the main archaeological and tourist sites were forced to close, including the Acropolis in Athens.
Media workers also struck. Journalists, members of the national journalists’ union, held a 24-hour strike and as a result no newspapers will be published on Thursday. Due to industrial action by media workers, there were no reports of the strike on national television.
The strike takes place within the context of growing working class resistance across Europe to austerity measures now being imposed by governments across the continent—irrespective of whether they are nominally social democratic or conservative.
via www.wsws.org
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