Athens: Greek unions will stage their second nationwide strike in a week Thursday, shutting down all public services, closing schools, customs and tax offices, halting public transport and grounding flights for 24 hours.
Unions are protesting the Socialist government's harsh austerity measures, designed to curb the country's massive debt and pull it out of an unprecedented financial crisis that has hammered the euro. The measures have cut civil servants' salaries, frozen pensions and increased taxes, including on fuel and general sales tax.
Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of Greece's largest union, the GSEE, says: "They are trying to make workers pay the price for this crisis. These measures will not be effective and will throw the economy into deep freeze."
