ATHENS�? Greek riot police fired teargas at a small group of rock-throwing youths on the central Syntagma Square in Athens, where thousands of striking workers marched to the parliament to protest against austerity measures on Wednesday.
Meanwhile across the country, flights were grounded, schools shut and workers took to the streets in protest against cuts the government says are needed to save the nation from bankruptcy.
The first nationwide walkout in months marks the start of what labor leaders say is a street campaign to derail emergency austerity steps launched last month by a government that has already imposed two years of tax hikes and wage cuts.
Thousands of state workers, pensioners and students gathered at a central Athens square, beating drums and waving banners reading "Erase the debt!" and "The rich must pay!"
A separate group of thousands of communist-affiliated workers marched into the central Syntagma square, carrying red flags and chanting: "We don't have jobs! We don't have rights! No sacrifice for the bosses!"
In June, more than 100 people were injured in clashes between demonstrators and police in Syntagma Square. A police official said about 1,000 officers were deploying on Wednesday, fewer than during June's protests.
Hospitals, schools hit
Hospitals ran on emergency staff and some state schools closed. Trains were halted, and more than 400 international and domestic flights were cancelled at Athens airport, an airport spokeswoman said.
Despite its new measures demanded by the EU and IMF, the government was forced to announce this week it would still miss its 2011 deficit target by nearly 2 billion euros, rattling global markets. Polls show nearly four out of five Greeks expect to default on the massive national debt within months.
"We want this government out. They deceived us. They promised to tax the rich and help the poor, but they didn't," said Sotiris Pelekanos, 39, an engineer and one of the striking workers gathered in central Athens.
"I don't care if we go bankrupt. We are already bankrupt. It's just a matter of the state realizing it," he said. "We've lost everything."
Greece's main labor unions ADEDY and GSEE expect hundreds of thousands of people to walk off the job.
Video: Euro Woes (on this page)"They are not trying to save Greece. They are just killing workers," ADEDY Vice President Ilias Vrettakos said in a speech during the rally. "They should get the money from the rich, not from us."
Away from the demonstrations, the streets of the capital were calm. The private sector did not participate in the strike but will take part in a bigger general strike on Oct. 19.
Many in the Greek private sector resent the perks of state workers, who make up about a fifth of Greece's workforce and are protected from layoffs by the constitution.
Urgency
The reforms have taken on a new urgency this week after the announcement that Greece will miss its 2011 deficit target.
The target was written into a 109 billion euro bailout package agreed in July ? the second huge bailout in two years ? and if its terms need to be renegotiated, European banks that hold Greek debt could suffer a heavier blow.
EU officials are scrambling to protect banks from a repeat of the crisis that froze the world financial system in 2008.
They have postponed until mid-November a decision on whether to approve the next 8 billion euro ($10.7 billion) tranche of bailout loans, giving negotiators more time to press the government to enact promised reforms.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Tuesday Greek finances for this year could slip even further if the country failed to rally round the reforms and show "national cohesion and solidarity".
His government has promised to hold a referendum on the fiscal crisis this autumn, although it is not clear what question Greeks would be asked or when it would be held. Parliament debated the referendum law on Wednesday even as the protesters were gathering in the streets outside.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44783144/ns/business-us_business/
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