Greece facing general strike today in mass protest against austerity

Greece is braced once again for mass protest as a nationwide general strike is planned for Thursday (18 Oct).

The strike has already begun in some areas of Greece, and for some professions. On Wednesday journalists staged a walk-out, as well as lawyers, notaries, pharmacists and doctors. Civil servants, and thousands of others from across all sectors are due to join them on Thursday.

Greek protesters want to send a message to the European Union that societies facing successive austerity waves to meet fiscal goals have reached their limit.

"Wage-earners and pensioners have exclusively borne the weight of the economic crisis while the tax cheats who created it are in the clear," said leading union GSEE, which represents hundreds of thousands of private sector employees.

The strike on Thursday marks not only a continuation of protests in Greece, but also across Europe. Anti-austerity demonstrations have been seen in recent weeks in Spain, Greece, Portugal, France, Croatia and Italy.

(NewsPoint)