Several protest rallies to close off central Athens on Wednesday

With several protest rallies scheduled to take place in central Athens on Wednesday, much of the center is expected to be closed off to motorists as police stand by for possible upheaval.

Greek pensioners are to gather in central Kotzias Square at 10 a.m. to protests further cuts to payouts scheduled for next year in line with austerity measures agreed between the government and Greece's creditors.

Members of the workers' union of the Public Power Corporation, GENOP, are to gather half an hour later at PPC's offices on central Halkokondyli Street to protest the government's plans to sell off the corporation's lignite-fired plants.

Meanwhile members of the union representing Greek hospital workers, known by its acronym POEDIN, are to gather outside the offices of the capital's region health administration in Ambelokipi to protest understaffing and cutbacks.

POEDIN called a five-hour work stoppage, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for workers in Attica. Hospital staff elsewhere in the country are to stage a 24-hour walkout, leaving hospitals on skeleton staff.

Finally, PPC workers are set to gather in Syntagma Square at 12.30 p.m. as MPs debate a bill on the power plants.