ALAMY/REXPolice had to deal with a series of violence as thousands protested against a new round of austerity
GREECE descended into chaos today with public services shut down as thousands protested against a new round of austerity cuts.
Kicking off a day before measures are due to be approved by parliament, police say 12,000 people took part in separate protests in Athens and another 6,000 in Thessaloniki.Athens erupted into violence as hooded youths smashed the windows of a TV van and threw a firebomb at police, who responded with bursts of tear gas.
The walkout cut off maritime traffic for a second day while dozens of flights had to be cancelled or rescheduled and hospitals ran on emergency staff.
Alekos Perrakis, a senior member of Communist union PAME, said: "We want to send a decisive message to the government, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund that we will not let them cut up our lives."
The mobilisation is aimed against new pension and tax break cuts forced on Greece by its EU-IMF creditors in return for bailout cash.
ALAMY12,000 people took part in separate protests in Athens and another 6,000 in Thessaloniki
Overall, the bill to be approved on Thursday night entails 4.9 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in cuts in 2018-2021, state agency ANA said.
The leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras grudgingly accepted to legislate another round of pension cuts and lower tax breaks - applicable in 2019 and 2020 respectively - to unlock the cash payment ahead of looming debt repayments in July.
The tax break cut on its own "is tantamount to losing one-and-a-half (months') salary", Perrakis said.
In return, Greece will enact poverty support measures -- such as subsidies on rent and medicine -- over the same period of time.
REXPolice used bursts of tear gas as youths smashed the windows of a TV van and threw a fire bomb
Kicking off a day before measures are due to be approved by parliament, police say 12,000 people took part in separate protests in Athens and another 6,000 in Thessaloniki.Athens erupted into violence as hooded youths smashed the windows of a TV van and threw a firebomb at police, who responded with bursts of tear gas.
The walkout cut off maritime traffic for a second day while dozens of flights had to be cancelled or rescheduled and hospitals ran on emergency staff.
Alekos Perrakis, a senior member of Communist union PAME, said: "We want to send a decisive message to the government, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund that we will not let them cut up our lives."
The mobilisation is aimed against new pension and tax break cuts forced on Greece by its EU-IMF creditors in return for bailout cash.
ALAMY12,000 people took part in separate protests in Athens and another 6,000 in ThessalonikiOverall, the bill to be approved on Thursday night entails 4.9 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in cuts in 2018-2021, state agency ANA said.
The leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras grudgingly accepted to legislate another round of pension cuts and lower tax breaks - applicable in 2019 and 2020 respectively - to unlock the cash payment ahead of looming debt repayments in July.
The tax break cut on its own "is tantamount to losing one-and-a-half (months') salary", Perrakis said.
In return, Greece will enact poverty support measures -- such as subsidies on rent and medicine -- over the same period of time.
REXPolice used bursts of tear gas as youths smashed the windows of a TV van and threw a fire bomb
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