General strike hits Greece as people protest austerity plan

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Greeks walked off the job on Wednesday in a nationwide strike against the government's austerity measures, as Germany's chancellor said that Europe's future depended on helping Greece emerge from its debt crisis.

No planes, trains or ferries operated in Greece, as hospitals, schools and public offices were also shut, according to media reports. The nation's two leading unions, representing the public and the private sectors, have called the strike to protest what they see as unfair and harsh measures aimed at lowering the soaring Greek deficit.

Wednesday's strike is the latest in a series of strikes to hit Greece in recent weeks.


/conga/story/misc/international.html 74626 Prime Minister George Papandreou's government agreed over the weekend to implement even more austerity measures, totalling 11% of gross domestic product, in exchange for a 110 billion-euro aid package from other euro-zone members and the International Monetary Fund.

This year's measures include cutting public-sector wages and pension outlays, which together account for 75% of total public spending in Greece, according to the IMF. The public sector in Greece is very large compared to that of its peers in the euro zone.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was at a crossroads.

Speaking to the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Merkel said that the financial aid for Greece must be approved in order to secure the stability of the euro and avoid contagion to other member states, according to media reports.

The chancellor also said that euro-zone rules need to be changed to make sure countries that breach them get properly punished. For extreme cases, Merkel said, a procedure must be developed for the orderly insolvency of a member state.

The parliament in Berlin is scheduled to vote on Friday on the Greek aid bailout package, as German public opinion remains firmly opposed to helping Greece.

Germany's share of the Greek bailout package is about 22.4 billion euros.

Meanwhile, a new poll showed that support Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its Christian Social Union sister party has dropped by two points to 34%.

Backing for the chancellor herself fell by six points to 48%, according to the same poll conducted for Stern magazine and RTL Television.

The decline in support comes ahead of a key election in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, on Sunday.