Thousands demonstrated in Athens and major cities today and travellers faced fresh travel misery as the country was gripped by the fifth general strike this year against tough austerity policies.
Over 15,000 people according to police estimates took part in street protests in the capital and the main northern city of Thessaloniki to force the government to abandon an EU and IMF-mandated pay and pension cuts.
The main demonstration in Athens called by the country''s largest labour unions and leftist parties attracted around 5,000 participants, police said.
Some 4,000 people of all ages, down to babies in prams, had marched in the capital earlier under another protest called by Communist-affiliated workers.
A giant banner on a crane hung over the protesters, calling on the ruling Socialists to scrap an accord with Brussels and the IMF that secured a huge bailout loan for Greece in return for sweeping pay and pension cuts.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty," read another banner.
Another 7,000 people marched in two separate demonstrations in the main northern city of Thessaloniki according to the police.
The general strike put travellers through a gauntlet for the second time in a week as it disrupted departures from the capital.
Thousands of travellers to the Greek islands were prevented from sailing as at least four scheduled ferry services to the Aegean were cancelled.
Some 500 Communist-affiliated strikers at the harbour also blocked the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.
The authorities managed to keep the lanes open in the early morning and got a handful of ferries through by dispatching around 1,000 coastguards and police to keep unionists at bay.
Greece''s main airlines grounded nearly 50 of Tuesday''s domestic flights because of the strike while rail access to Athens airport was also impeded.
Intercity trains also ran a reduced service along with hospitals while state offices shut down altogether.
No news was broadcast as journalists joined the action.
On June 23, another one-day protest had stranded thousands of travellers at Piraeus, one of the Mediterranean Sea''s busiest ports, for hours.
The recurring labour unrest has cost Greece booking cancellations and millions of euros in damages at a time when the debt-hit nation is struggling to maximise its revenues and revive its flagging economy.
"Greek islanders are counting on the next month for funds," Manolis Galanakis, deputy chairman of Greek coastal shipping associations, told Mega television.
He added that some 18,000 people were originally scheduled to sail from Piraeus on Tuesday.
A court late on Monday declared the ferry strike illegal but the Communist party and its related syndicates dismissed the ruling.
"permissibility is relative. How can someone losing their job be considered legal?" the head of the Piraeus labour centre Nikos Xourafis told the television station.
Tourism contributes 17 percent of Greece''s gross domestic product.
Lawmakers on Tuesday were to begin discussing a disputed pension reform tabled by the government that raises the general retirement age to 65 years for both men and women for the first time.
It also increases the mandatory period in the workforce from 37 to 40 years and cracks down on early retirement.
Over 15,000 people according to police estimates took part in street protests in the capital and the main northern city of Thessaloniki to force the government to abandon an EU and IMF-mandated pay and pension cuts.
The main demonstration in Athens called by the country''s largest labour unions and leftist parties attracted around 5,000 participants, police said.
Some 4,000 people of all ages, down to babies in prams, had marched in the capital earlier under another protest called by Communist-affiliated workers.
A giant banner on a crane hung over the protesters, calling on the ruling Socialists to scrap an accord with Brussels and the IMF that secured a huge bailout loan for Greece in return for sweeping pay and pension cuts.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty," read another banner.
Another 7,000 people marched in two separate demonstrations in the main northern city of Thessaloniki according to the police.
The general strike put travellers through a gauntlet for the second time in a week as it disrupted departures from the capital.
Thousands of travellers to the Greek islands were prevented from sailing as at least four scheduled ferry services to the Aegean were cancelled.
Some 500 Communist-affiliated strikers at the harbour also blocked the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.
The authorities managed to keep the lanes open in the early morning and got a handful of ferries through by dispatching around 1,000 coastguards and police to keep unionists at bay.
Greece''s main airlines grounded nearly 50 of Tuesday''s domestic flights because of the strike while rail access to Athens airport was also impeded.
Intercity trains also ran a reduced service along with hospitals while state offices shut down altogether.
No news was broadcast as journalists joined the action.
On June 23, another one-day protest had stranded thousands of travellers at Piraeus, one of the Mediterranean Sea''s busiest ports, for hours.
The recurring labour unrest has cost Greece booking cancellations and millions of euros in damages at a time when the debt-hit nation is struggling to maximise its revenues and revive its flagging economy.
"Greek islanders are counting on the next month for funds," Manolis Galanakis, deputy chairman of Greek coastal shipping associations, told Mega television.
He added that some 18,000 people were originally scheduled to sail from Piraeus on Tuesday.
A court late on Monday declared the ferry strike illegal but the Communist party and its related syndicates dismissed the ruling.
"permissibility is relative. How can someone losing their job be considered legal?" the head of the Piraeus labour centre Nikos Xourafis told the television station.
Tourism contributes 17 percent of Greece''s gross domestic product.
Lawmakers on Tuesday were to begin discussing a disputed pension reform tabled by the government that raises the general retirement age to 65 years for both men and women for the first time.
It also increases the mandatory period in the workforce from 37 to 40 years and cracks down on early retirement.
