GREEK workers walked off the job in a general strike over the weekend at the call of unions to protest pension cuts and tax increases, reported the New York Times.
The strike hit all ferry routes as well as commercial vessels calling at Piraeus, Aspropyrgos, Eleusis, Pachi and Megara ports for discharging cargo.
The Crew Union of Towage and Salvage has also confirmed participation in the strike, reported Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS).
It is expected that a second 24-hour strike will also be announced from 6am May 8 until 6am Monday May 9, directly following the first strike.
During the stoppage, vessels were unable to berth, shift or sail from the affected ports. The action has been called by the union in response to the government's planned changes to labour and insurance rights, pensions and retirement ages.
The strike came as legislators debated EUR5.4 billion (US$6.2 billion) in cuts, before eurozone finance ministers in Brussels voted to unlock new bailout funds to make debt repayments in July.
The walkout, the second general strike this year, halted public transport, shut down government offices and closed schools.
Greece says it has agreed with its creditors on a EUR5.4 billion package of austerity measures, and Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, has said the two sides are "99 per cent of the way there".
Creditors want Greece to legislate an additional EUR3.6 billion in contingency measures that would come into effect if Athens misses its 2018 budget targets, but Greece has refused to do so, saying the measures would violate domestic law and go beyond the terms of last summer's bailout deal.
WORLD SHIPPING
09 May 2016 - 08:42
Strikes protesting austerity likely to cripple Greek transport in coming weeks
GREEK workers walked off the job in a general strike over the weekend at the call of unions to protest pension cuts and tax increases, reported the New York Times.
WORLD SHIPPING
09 May 2016 - 08:42
Strikes protesting austerity likely to cripple Greek transport in coming weeks
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