Thousands of demonstrators marched in Greece yesterday as a 24-hour nationwide strike against a new labour reform shut down transport and public services.
Over 16 000 people took part in separate demonstrations in Athens organised by unions and opposition parties, police said, with leftist, socialist and communist party leaders also attending the rallies.
“No matter what the government does, this bill is condemned by workers,” Dimitris Koutsoumbas, head of the communist KKE party, said.
“It belongs in the trash heap,” Koutsoumbas
Another 10 000 marched in Thessaloniki, and protests were held in other major Greek cities.
Critics have labelled the reform, which promotes working hour flexibility, “modern-day slavery”.
“Hands off the 8-hour (working day),” read a banner carried by pro-communist protesters in the capital.
“Slavery is not progress,” said another.…