ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Unions plan to protest the painful austerity measures of Greece's cash-strapped government by holding a general strike Thursday that will close much of the country's public sector and shut down the country's ferries, trains and public transport.
Protest marches also are planned in Athens, and police are bracing for violence.
During Greece's last general strike on May 5, three workers — including a pregnant woman — died while trapped in a bank that rioters set ablaze. That occurred as 100,000 people demonstrated in the capital against the austerity measures. That caused widespread shock and condemnation, but it remains unclear whether that will deter new riots.
Unions have staged a series of walkouts in recent months against deep pension and salary cuts, as well as steep increases in consumer taxes.
They claim low-earners will suffer disproportionately from the measures, taken to secure Greece a €110 billion ($136 billion) bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund that staved off bankruptcy.
Thursday's strike is to shut down schools, tax and local administration offices, ferries, trains and most other public transport options in Athens. State hospitals will have to operate with emergency staff only.
Most flights will be unaffected, as air traffic controllers will stay on the job. However, some regional airports will close, and Greece's Olympic Air carrier said it was canceling 30 domestic flights.
On Wednesday, the government redeemed €8.5 billion ($10.43 billion) in expiring 10-year state bonds, using a first installment of the European Union and IMF rescue loans. Athens was unable to raise the funds without outside assistance, as wary investors had sent Greek borrowing costs sky-high. Just a day earlier, the country had received €14.5 billion ($18 billion) from 10 of the other 15 EU countries that use the euro.
Greece's debt crisis has sent shock waves through global markets. That, combined with fears for Europe's struggling economy and German warnings that the future of the euro is at stake, sent the common currency to a four-year low against the dollar Wednesday.
Athens received the first €5.5 billion ($6.7 billion) tranche from the IMF last week, and the next and final IMF-eurozone installment for this year — an estimated €18 billion ($22 billion) — is expected in the autumn.
