Services paralyzed as Greeks strike against pensio

There were no reports of injury or damage but footage from central Athens showed some protesters throwing Molotov-cocktails at the police and security forces fighting back with tear gas.

Unions have called for a nationwide general strike on Thursday.

Greek trade unions’ 24-hour strike against pension reforms brought the country to a standstill Thursday.

They planned to march to parliament, intensifying pressure on a beleaguered government struggling to convince lenders it is committed to the terms of its third bailout without losing its thin majority in parliament.

Workers across Greece launched a general strike Thursday to protest an unpopular pension overhaul that has sparked a major backlash against embattled leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “I’m (demonstrating) here for my children and grandchildren”, he told Reuters.

Thursday’s general strike – the third in as many months – has stopped train and ferry services and grounded dozens of flights.

The nationwide strike coincides with a key bailout review.

“We will reach a stage where we won’t be able to make ends meet unless we steal from the state, hide income”, said 70-year-old demonstrator George Stathopoulos. To protect pensioners who have seen their pensions slashed 11 times since 2010, Athens plans to increase social security contributions.

(AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis). A man walks past a docked ferry during a 24-hour general strike at the Athens’ port of Piraeus, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016.

Unions protested that the proposals on the table in combination with new tax hikes will strangle the real economy and Greek society instead of supporting efforts to restore economic growth after six years of harsh austerity that has fuelled recession.

The government wants to conclude the review swiftly to start talks on debt relief and convince Greeks that their sacrifices are paying off despite the jobless rate rising to 25%. The left-led government is trying to reform the country’s ailing pension system by increasing social security contributions to avoid pension cuts.

The strikers are furious at government plans to lower the maximum pension to 2,300 euros ($2,500) per month from 2,700 euros now and introduce a new minimum guaranteed basic pension of 384 euros. However, experts reportedly say that these reforms will cause majority of the people to lose two-thirds of their income to contributions and taxes.

Although the measures, which include the gradual phasing-out of a pension benefit by 2019, are broadly in line with bailout demands, sources close to the lenders said they may not be enough to address a deeper-than-expected fiscal gap.