Greece rocked by mass walk out as protesters revolt against bailout austerity
ANTI-AUSTERITY campaigners have taken to the streets of Greek capital Athens to protest against reforms that saw the leftist-led government agree with the country's bailout lenders.
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Domestic flights and Athens transport were disrupted buy the strike action and ships remained docked for 24 hours.
Some public services were also shut down by the industrial action organised by Greece's largest labour unions, private sector GSEE and its public sector counterpart ADEDY.
About 10,000 striking workers, pensioners and students marched peacefully to parliament where lawmakers have been debating the 2018 budget. A vote on the draft is scheduled for next week.
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They chanted: "Take your bailouts and get out of here."
Protesters held banners reading "Shame on you!" and "No more lies!".
Greece's fiscal goals have been approved by its European Union lenders and the International Monetary Fund.
Under its latest bailout review, the government has agreed to cut spending further, reduce pensions, complete an evaluation of public sector staff's skills and qualifications and sell coal-fired power stations. It will also tighten the rules for unions to call a strike.
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Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs during the crisis and a deep recession induced by austerity.
Pensioners have seen their income slashed by more than 30 per cent.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won power in 2015 on promises to end austerity but later signed up to a new £76bn bailout that ends in August.
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He was re-elected on pledges to protect the poor and pensioners as well as workers' wages and rights.
But his Syriza party's popularity is sliding in opinion polls and Mr Tsipras, whose term ends in 2019, wants to attempt "a clean exit" from the bailout without additional financial aid from the lenders that usually comes with more conditions.
