Police in Athens fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters on Wednesday as thousands of Greeks walked off the job to join the debt-ridden country’s first general strike this year and oppose austerity measures.
About 15,000 striking workers took part in a Communist-organised demonstration in Athens and 20,000 more joined protests organised by other unions, according to police figures. Another 15,000 people marched in Greece’s northern metropolis Thessaloniki, local authorities said.
Protesters tried to firebomb a car in Athens and threw rocks at police, who fired back tear gas, while in the city of Iraklio on the island of Crete, demonstrators overturned a squad car, police said. ‘Unpaid bills, slashed wages and pensions, boarded-up shops. Greek people cannot wait for saviours. Only by taking their fortunes into their own hands can they exit the stalemate,’ main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the radical leftist Syriza party, told reporters. The nationwide strike forced airport authorities to scrap or reschedule dozens of flights while hospitals operated on reduced staffing.
About 15,000 striking workers took part in a Communist-organised demonstration in Athens and 20,000 more joined protests organised by other unions, according to police figures. Another 15,000 people marched in Greece’s northern metropolis Thessaloniki, local authorities said.
Protesters tried to firebomb a car in Athens and threw rocks at police, who fired back tear gas, while in the city of Iraklio on the island of Crete, demonstrators overturned a squad car, police said. ‘Unpaid bills, slashed wages and pensions, boarded-up shops. Greek people cannot wait for saviours. Only by taking their fortunes into their own hands can they exit the stalemate,’ main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the radical leftist Syriza party, told reporters. The nationwide strike forced airport authorities to scrap or reschedule dozens of flights while hospitals operated on reduced staffing.