ATHENS (AP) — The general strike called Thursday in Greece in response to a rail tragedy last month forced the suspension of flights and disrupted services, as various cities across the country hosted mobilizations.
The walkout also left ferries to Greek islands moored in ports, reduced staff at public hospitals to essentials, suspended public transportation and canceled classes at public schools.
The unions have joined the associations of railway employees, who have been leading continuous strikes since the head-on collision between two trains that left 57 dead and dozens injured in the north of the country on February 28.
The largest mobilizations took place in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in the country, and in the capital, Athens, where thousands of people chanted “this crime will not be forgotten” in front of the police cordon guarding the headquarters of a private railway operator.
The shops and bank offices lowered the blinds to the passage of the protesters in Athens, which was paralyzed. A wide variety of business associations, from those representing lawyers to those of delivery people, joined the strike.
The government, which will face parliamentary elections before the summer, says services will be restored on March 22 and gradually return to normal until April 11. In addition, additional personnel will monitor the mandatory speed reduction for safety reasons on some stretches of track.
The prime minister’s centre-right executive, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has seen his solid lead in the polls shrink in recent weeks in favor of his main rival, the left-wing Syriza party. The two sides are locked in an ideological debate about how to reform Greece’s antiquated rail network.
Mitsotakis has promised more transparency in the relationship between privatized services and the authorities that oversee them, and called on experts from the European Union to help outline the changes. The opposition alleges that the dismantling of state-controlled agencies, which was poorly managed, compromised safety on the trains.
