Rubbish Poses Health Threat As Greeks Strike Over Pensions

Strikes by millions of workers protesting against pension reforms have thrown Greece into chaos, with rolling blackouts and piles of rotting rubbish posing health risks nationwide.

The proposed reforms will see 133 pension funds merged, while bureaucrats employed in the civil service will be given incentives to retire later.

As riot police moved in to secure an Athens landfill site blocked by striking municipal employees, the country's biggest labor union, the GSEE, threatened a general strike tomorrow, exacerbating tensions with Greece's centre-right government.

The mayor of Athens, Nikitas Kaklamanis, warned of epidemics because of the rodents attracted by piles of uncollected garbage in cities. "There is a risk of outbreaks of infection, such as gastroenteritis," he said.

Almost every sector has been affected by the action, which is expected to reach a climax ahead of a parliamentary vote on the legislation on Thursday. Lawyers, doctors, journalists, bank workers, engineers, pharmacists and transport employees have promised to strike in protest at the reforms that all claim will lead to loss of benefits.

Last week the Athens stock market was shut down as striking bank employees stopped transactions being processed. Work stopped at Greece's two main container terminals in Pireaus and Salonika.

With a parliamentary majority of two, the ruling New Democracy party has been unnerved by the protests, with MPs wondering if the government will survive. But, pledging to stand his ground, the prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, said the government had to forge ahead with the reforms if the debt-ridden pension system was to avoid collapse.

With one of the lowest birth rates and fastest aging populations on the continent, the changes were crucial, he said, to prevent the pension funds going bankrupt.