Clashes erupted after a group of youths attempted to storm a building [AFP]

Greek police have fired tear gas at a group of protesters at an anti-government march in Athens after they attempted to storm a university building.

The clashes occurred on Wednesday on the sidelines of a demonstration in the capital involving at least 20,000 people protesting government plans to cut spending in an effort to curb the nation’s debt crisis.

“A group of 50 youths tried to storm the university building and riot police fired teargas to stop them,” a police official told the Reuters news agency.

They reportedly threw stones and firebombs at pursuing police, and a number of shops in the area were vandalised.

Services crippled

The demonstrations came amid a nationwide strike called by public and private sector unions in anger over measures that will see public wages frozen, the retirement age increased and a hike in taxes.

“Today, Europe’s eyes are turned on us, today we are demonstrating for hope and future … to cancel the measures,” Yannis Panagopoulos, head of the private sector union GSEE, told the rally.

Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets to protest government plans [AFP]

Wednesday’s  action shut down public services and saw flights and public transport grind to a halt.A second protest involving around 7,000 people was also staged in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, police said.

Barnaby Phillips, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Athens, said the protests saw a “fairly impressive turnout”.

“What is most important here is determining what proportion of the population will stick by the government as it tries to implement a very austere programme to deal with the economic crisis here, or whether a significant body of the population is turning away from the government and will resist it.

“That is still an open question. I think this economic crisis will drag on for months,” he said.

The action is the first joint strike in Greece since the Socialist government won elections last October.

Michalis Korileos, a 36-year-old civil servant, told the AP news agency he was striking “because others stole the money and we are the ones who are going to pay”.

“They are cutting my allowances and I have two children to raise, it is difficult.”

The strike takes place during a visit by EU officials assessing whether Greece is on track to cut its double-digit deficit.

European unrest

The action comes as fears over wages and job security grows among European workers, sparking protests in a number of other countries in the past week.

In France on Wednesday air traffic controllers continued to strike after action began on Tuesday, causing massive delays and cancellations at Paris’ two main airports.

The action was called to protest planned reforms that workers fear will lead to losses of jobs and civil servant benefits.

It came as Lufthansa pilots ended a strike in Germany and British Airways cabin crews voted to launch one of their own.

Spanish workers unhappy about plans to raise the retirement age marched on Tuesday but the main protest in Madrid seemed relatively small, in a sign that the country’s unions may be weakening.

Portugal’s second largest union warned on Monday it would call more strikes if the government extended a public sector wage freeze beyond this year.

Transportation labour unions in the Czech Republic decided on Tuesday to also hold a strike in the capital Prague next Monday in protest against a new value-added tax on their workers’ benefits.

The walkouts are the latest signs of a broader unease about jobs and benefits, and what the future holds for a continent struggling to stay competitive on a global scale.

Unemployment in the 16-nation eurozone is at 10 per cent, with Spain topping the jobless rate at 19 per cent.

Greece hit by nationwide strike against austerity

ATHENS, Greece – Greek unions staged a nationwide strike Wednesday, grounding flights, shutting schools and crippling public services, in a show of strength against government austerity measures aimed at pulling the debt-ridden country out of 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 are also idle.

Commuters in Athens were left without most forms of public transport. Public schools, tax offices and municipal offices are closed, while public hospitals are using 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 percent of gross domestic product to 8.7 percent this year.

“If all these measures are enforced, unemployment will skyrocket. Our country will enter a massive recession and unemployment will reach a Europe-wide record,” said GSEE spokesman Stathis Anestis.

“This will be tragic because it will provoke social (unrest) and clashes.”

Greek unemployment hit a five-year high of 10.6 percent in November 2009, up from 9.8 percent in October. The country’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.

Greek borrowing rates nevertheless remained high on Wednesday, reflecting market worries of a default. Spreads on government bonds over their German equivalent widened to 340.2 basis points after Fitch ratings agency on Tuesday downgraded ratings for four Greek banks.

Shares on the Athens Stock Exchange were also 0.59 percent lower in late morning trading.

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

Greece’s central bank governor George Provopoulos said in a speech Tuesday that Greece’s crisis heightened a pressing need for major eceonomic reforms.

“The crisis could present an opportunity to carry out necessary reforms — and not just have a debate about them — given that not implementing these reforms would have a great price.”

Wednesday’s strike will be a crucial test of support for the unions, with polls showing strong public support for the government’s austerity plan.

A poll Sunday in the Ethnos newspaper showed some 57.6 percent of Greeks believe measures taken so far are “in the right direction,” while 75.8 percent think unions should show restraint until the end of the crisis.

Source: Al Jazeera/Yahoo News, 24.02.2010