Greek workers clash with police during protests involving the capitalist economic crisis. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have proposed a package to bailout the country.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Greek public sector workers have stormed the Acropolis and scuffled with riot police after launching a 48-hour strike against austerity measures.
Their action comes ahead of a nationwide general strike on Wednesday.
The austerity measures were outlined in a draft bill submitted to the Greek parliament and will be voted on by the end of the week.
They have been introduced in return for a 110bn euro (£95bn) international rescue package agreed for the country.
The measures include wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises.
They aim to achieve fresh budget cuts of 30bn euros over three years, with the goal of cutting Greece's public deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2014. It currently stands at 13.6%.
Union leaders say the cuts target low-income Greeks.
"There are other things the [government] can do, before taking money from a pensioner who earns 500 euros (£430) a month," Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the public servants' union ADEDY, told Greek private television.
Dozens of Communist protesters broke into the ancient Acropolis at dawn, draping giant banners on the Parthenon temple reading: "Peoples of Europe Rise Up."
"We want to send a message to the farthest reaches of Greece and Europe," Communist MP Nikos Papaconstantinou said.
"Similar measures that eliminate social security are taken across Europe. But popular anger will rattle imperialist organisations."
Silent parade
Several thousand teachers and students marched to parliament, carrying black flags and banners.
The demonstration was largely peaceful. Some protesters handed red roses to riot policemen. But some scuffles broke out near the parliament building, with demonstrators throwing stones at riot police, who responded with pepper spray.
In other signs of discontent, on Monday a group of teachers forced their way into the main state broadcaster's studios in Athens to protest about education cuts.
Also in Athens, some 150 members of the armed forces staged a silent parade to protest at having their bonuses cut.
The EU has agreed to provide 80bn euros (£69bn) in funding, while the rest will come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The deal is designed to prevent Greece from defaulting on its massive debt.
However, it must first be approved by some parliaments in the 15 other eurozone countries.
Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said private banks were willing to chip in to to Germany's part of the deal, which is expected to be the largest individual contribution, at about 22m euros.
In return for the loans, Greece will make major austerity cuts which Prime Minister George Papandreou said involved "great sacrifices".
Measures include:
Scrapping bonus payments for public sector workers
Capping annual holiday bonuses and axing them for higher earners
Banning increases in public sector salaries and pensions for at least three years
Increasing VAT from 21% to 23%
Raising taxes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco by 10%
Taxing illegal construction
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8658973.stm
Published: 2010/05/04 13:24:51 GMT
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