Thousands of Greeks gathered outside parliament in Athens to protest against the new austerity package. PM George Papandreou has said that only his 28bn-euro (£25bn) austerity plan would help the state at the moment and added that if the package is not approved, Greece could run out of money within weeks.
Public services will not run normally on June 28th, due to the general strike. Banks will be closed as well.
Air traffic controllers will walk out between 8-12 am and 18-22 pm. A number of flights will be also canceled at Athens international airport. Trains, buses and ferries will not run as usual. The metro subway is the only form of public transport which will work, “so as to allow Athenians to join the planned protests in the Syntagma Square.”
The port of Piraeus which links most Greek islands with the mainland, has been also blockaded by protesters.
The trade unions are trying to prevent the government from passing the new austerity program that will impose taxes on those earning minimum wage, after having gone through many other cuts during the year and having seen unemployment rise to more than 16%.
The new austerity package and implementation law must be passed in separate votes on Wednesday and Thursday.
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