Travelers in Greece yesterday ran a labor gauntlet for the second time in a week as a general strike against pensions reform shut down services and disrupted departures from the capital.
However, authorities took swift action to keep the main port of Piraeus from being blockaded, sending about 1,000 coast guards and police to keep unionists from seizing control of ferries.
About 500 Communist-affiliated strikers gathered at the harbor but were prevented from approaching the ships to the Aegean islands, which include some of Greece’s top travel destinations, a coast guard source said.
However, they were able to block the departure of smaller vessels to islands closer to Athens.
“All the early boats to Aegean destinations have departed,” a coast guard spokeswoman told reporters
“There are increased operational measures at the harbor and things are calm,” she said.
The general strike called by the main Greek unions is the fifth since February against a wave of austerity measures imposed by the government as it struggles to staunch a national debt crisis.
Separate street demonstrations against the sweeping spending cuts were planned in central Athens and other main Greek cities later yesterday.
A one-day protest on Wednesday last week stranded thousands of travelers at one of the Mediterranean Sea’s busiest ports for hours.
The recurring labor unrest has cost Greece booking cancelations and millions of euros in damages at a time when the debt-hit nation is struggling to maximize 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 about 18,000 people were scheduled to sail from Piraeus yesterday.
A court late on Monday declared the ferry strike illegal, but the Communist party and its related syndicates dismissed the ruling.
“Legality is relative. How can someone losing their job be considered legal?” the head of the Piraeus labor center Nikos Xourafis told the television station.
Tourism contributes 17 percent of Greece’s GDP.
The nation’s main airlines grounded nearly 50 of yesterday’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.
Lawmakers were to begin discussing yesterday 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 workforce period from 37 to 40 years and cracks down on early retirement.
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