Greek workers protest austerity polices as IMF tries to avert default

PanARMENIAN.Net - Striking Greek workers brought the Athens metro to a standstill on Tuesday, January 17 and kept ferries docked to protest against austerity as the country's lenders visited Athens to try to avert a disorderly debt default.

EU, IMF and ECB officials start combing through Athens' books on Tuesday as part of efforts to put together a 130-billion-euro rescue package that Greece needs to stay afloat when a major bond redemption comes due in late March.

Greeks have been hit hard by tax hikes and wage cuts meant to put the Mediterranean nation's finances back on track with a first bailout agreed in 2010. Greece has entered its fifth consecutive year of austerity-fuelled recession, with unemployment reaching a record high of 17.7 percent.

No ferries left from Athens' main ports on Tuesday, buses will only work part of the day, bank employees are also expected to walk off the job and labor unions will stage rallies to coincide with the start of the EU/IMF visit.

"We demand that austerity policies are abandoned and that the legislation that crushes our labor and insurance rights and turns workers into slaves is abolished," the EKA labor union, which represents workers in Athens, said in a statement.

The EU/IMF inspection visit is closely linked with Athens' efforts to agree with banks on a deal to slash its debt of over 350 billion euros by 100 billion euros, Reuters reported.