A general strike in Greece yesterday shut down ministries, the public sector and transport amid protests against the Socialist government's austerity plans to resolve the country's debt crisis.
Greece's two largest unions and the main Communist syndicate prepared street demonstrations in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities to reject the government's two-pronged crisis plan to raise revenue through new taxes and save money through public sector benefit cuts and hiring freezes.
"Our people and their needs are above markets and profits," the General Confederation of Greek Workers, which represents around a million members, said in its demonstration call.
The ADEDY civil servants union, whose 300,000 members are seen as the main target of the government's cost-cutting drive, are supporting the action which has shut down schools, government offices and courtrooms, with disruption to banks, hospitals and state-owned companies.
Both unions are led by Socialist cadres.
The national journalists' union also agreed to back the strike, raising the prospect of a news blackout on the action.
Athens metro and bus lines were due to run a skeleton service to allow strikers to get to the street demonstrations planned in the city centre.
The general strike is the first to hit the Socialists after their election in October on an economy salvation ticket.
It hit the government amid talks with the European Union and European Central Bank on its plan to slash four points off its budget deficit, currently over quadruple the allowed EU level at 12.7 per cent of output, and to limit debt of around €300 billion.
But with Greece in a deepening recession, there are doubts in Brussels that the cornered Socialists will meet their targets.
Ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday voiced its scepticism with a credit downgrade on Greece's top banks, arguing that the measures needed to rectify Greek public finances "will have a significant effect on the real economy, affecting loan demand and putting additional pressure on asset quality".
It was the last thing the Athens administration needed in a week experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund visited to assess its crisis plan.
The international teams arrived on Tuesday and were expected to stay until yesterday for talks with senior government officials.
Greece's high debt and a collapse in confidence on financial markets over its ability to finance itself have put government bonds under pressure, weakened the euro and pushed the eurozone into crisis.
But Athens says it is not solely responsible for the turmoil.
The Greek government spokesman argued on Tuesday that better surveillance from Brussels might have spotted the warning signals far sooner.
"The European Commission had the duty to know, to carry out checks, and I am very sure that they knew the statistics," government spokesman George Petalotis told Kanali 1 radio.