Greece Reels from New Strikes against Austerity

Greece reeled on Thursday from fresh strikes against austerity measures enacted by the coalition government in return for vital EU-IMF funds to avoid bankruptcy.

Sailors kicked off a two-day walkout, buses and trains were at a standstill and civil servants planned to hold a three-hour work stoppage against the government's cutbacks.

Doctors in hospitals also walked off their jobs to protest against ongoing sector spending cuts.

Farmers in various parts of the country were also in an uproar, warning that the rising cost of fuel and electricity owing to higher taxation was driving them to ruin.

The government, which is struggling to keep the country's fledgling recovery on track, insists there can be no deviation from the austerity blueprint agreed with the EU and the IMF in return for a multi-billion loan rescue.

Successive cuts to salaries and pensions over the last three years have caused waves of protests, many of them violent.

On Wednesday, around 30 Communist unionists were arrested after attempting to occupy the office of Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis.

Vroutsis had previously announced a new pension overhaul.

A street protest was organized outside the Athens court complex on Thursday morning to demand the release of those arrested.