Greek unions start 3 days of anti-austerity action

Greece entered a week of turmoil Monday, as the country suffered the first of three days of escalating anti-austerity strikes and its politicians prepared to vote on whether to accept further harsh austerity measures or set the debt-crippled country on its way out of the euro.                      

State hospital doctors, taxi drivers, Athens transport workers and journalists walked off the job Monday, ahead of a two-day general strike Tuesday and Wednesday that will shut down all public services and most forms of transport.                                  

Later Monday, the conservative-led coalition that has governed Greece since June will present the country's fourth austerity package in more than two years to an angry Parliament.                                         

The drastic spending cuts and tax hikes, demanded by the country's bailout creditors, aim to save some 13.5 billion ($17.3 billion) in 2013-14. If lawmakers reject them in a vote Wednesday, Greece faces the prospect of losing vital rescue loans that have kept it afloat since May 2010.                                      

Persuading politicians has proved the hardest of the two tasks. The main Socialist partner in the coalition has agreed to the package, but faces increasing dissent from its own lawmakers, a handful of who have said they won't vote for the cutbacks come Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the smaller Democratic Left party, while accepting the bulk of the belt-tightening, has dug in its heels over new labor reforms.                                

The rest of the austerity package includes a two-year increase in the retirement age, from the current average of 65, salary and pension cuts and another round of tax increases, including raising taxes for the interest on bank deposits from 10 to 15 percent.                                                   

Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras on Sunday called for a fresh round of elections  although the country has already had two popular votes and four governments in the past year. His Radical Left Coalition party is leading opinion polls, which have also seen a rapid rise in popularity for the militant far-right Golden Dawn party, which has been linked to violent attacks on immigrants and homosexuals.                                          

After nearly three years of repeated income cuts and tax hikes, Greeks have little stomach for more. On Monday, doctors launched a three-day strike that will leave state hospitals functioning on emergency staff, while taxi-drivers started rolling 24-hour strikes.

There were no news broadcasts and newspapers will not be published Tuesday due to a journalists' strike, while Athens urban rail and tram drivers walked off the job.                                   

During the general strike Tuesday and Wednesday, schools, tax offices and public administration will shut down, while there will be no train or ferry services across the country. Flights will be disrupted for three hours Tuesday.           


AP