Greeks have had enough: On Wednesday, workers walked off their jobs for the first general strike since the country's coalition government was formed in June. The purpose is clear: They are ousting their anger against even more austerity measures demanded by international creditors that Athens has to push through.
A 24-hour strike --- everything shut down, from schools, hospitals to shops and service offices.
Two labour unions in Greece - the General Confederation of Greek workers and the union of civil servants - are backing the largest demonstration in the country since the new government took office in June. The trigger was a proposed new round of austerity measures from the three-parties coalition government.
Spiros Korakis, president of Central Athens Fish Market, said, "Every time we hear about new measures, it scares the daylights out of us. The looming lock on the shop’s door is always hovering over our heads. I, for example, have six employees. I had eight. I had to let two go. I can’t cope. We can’t make ends meet."
In the past two years, Greece got bailouts from its international lenders in the sacrifice of social welfare. According to government figures, the salary cuts have driven down the standard of living in Greece by 35 percent.
Antonis Stamatopoulos, head of the Metro Workers’ Union, said, "We have been subjected to all the reductions. We can’t take any more. If they take even one euro away from us, we will be finished. We can’t take any more."
Despoina Spanou, board member of Adedy Civil Servant Union, said, "It (the government) is pursuing the hardest package of measures it has ever set to a vote. We’re talking about 11.9 billion (euros) for a society that has already been ransacked."
Individuals are not the only victims in the crisis, private creditors had to bear a nearly 54 percent face value loss as well. But without the next loan installment of 40.7 billion dollars, which is expected to come up for a vote in early October, Greeks are most likely to strike once again.