Strike action to peak this week

As the government prepares for another tough week, with a critical vote in Parliament scheduled for Thursday, opposition to its latest raft of austerity measures will spell more upheaval for citizens as workers ratchet up strikes and protests.

Commuters, whose patience was tested to the limit at the end of last week with a 48-hour public transport strike and a 24-hour walkout by taxi drivers, will face more disruption. Transport workers are expected to determine on Monday whether they will join a 48-hour general strike called by the two main labor unions for Wednesday and Thursday. They may run a limited service to allow protesters to attend rallies in central Athens. There will be no service tomorrow through Thursday however on the national railways and the capital?s suburban railway (Proastiakos). Passenger ferry schedules will be disrupted too as seamen walk out Monday and Tuesday.

As usual, the two-day general strike will see hospitals operating on emergency staffs and schools and government offices closed. Air-traffic controllers are to walk off the job, grounding all flights, and shops are expected to close.

Customs officials called a 24-hour strike for Monday after an Athens court declared their planned 10-day walkout illegal due to the impact it would have on fuel and food supplies. The court ruling led the government to suspend a decision to impose a ceiling on the price of fuel.

Finance Ministry staff including tax collectors?, whose efforts are crucial for reform efforts, are to start a weeklong walkout Monday, as are doctors working for Social Security Foundation (IKA) clinics.

Staff at state banks are to strike Monday and Wednesday.