After a few blissfully trouble-free days, commuters face another lesson in anger management Today Tuesday as public transport workers have called the latest in a series of 24-hour strikes in protest at the government’s austerity measures.
The walkout will halt services on the Athens metro, city buses and trolley buses and the tram while the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) will stop running between noon and 4 p.m. The suburban railway (Proastikos) will not be affected and taxi services will be running as normal, though cabbies are said to be planning their own industrial action in coming days to protest the liberalization of their sector.
The public transport workers, who are protesting wage cuts and plans to push thousands of civil servants into early retirement or redundancy, are also planning a protest march and rally in the city center on Tuesday, which is expected to aggravate congestion.
Those planning to travel by sea are in luck as ferry services are to return to normal today. The Panhellenic Seamen’s Union (PNO) on Monday called off a week-long strike that has hampered travel to the islands and left some of them dangerously low on basic food and medical supplies. The seamen, who launched their strike on October 17, are protesting changes to collective labor contracts.
In a statement issued Monday after a secret ballot, the union said the suspension of the strike action was an act of good will which it expected to be returned with “an immediate response to the demands of Greek sailors.”
Sources said on Monday that, despite PNO’s decision to call off the action, it was anticipated that workers on the routes served by the ANEK and NEL shipping firms will continue their protest action, disrupting ferry connections. Passengers are advised to contact their ferry firm before setting off.
On Monday, despite the strike action, at least three passenger ferries set sail as scheduled –Transport woes resume today the Knossos Palace and Superfast XII docked at Piraeus from the Cretan port of Iraklio, with the Kriti I arriving from Hania.