Protesters chanted “Make the bosses pay” and “Where has all the money gone?”

Union leaders hailed today’s general strike as a complete success. Public services ground to a halt in all major cities from Alexandroupoli in the north to Sitia in the south. Public and private sector workers both joined the action.

“The prime minister has just returned from a tour of world leaders – including Nicolas Sarkozy in France, Angela Merkal in Germany and Barack Obama”

“They all congratulated him for his courageous neoliberal reforms which has seen outrageous attacks on peoples pensions, wages and job security. But now he has to face the anger of the Greek people and these strikes are just the beginning.”

Greek workers are stepping up their resistance to austerity measures being enforced by the European Union.

Riot police attempted to split the demonstration, but were met by fierce resistance. Skirmishes continued until the end when they were seen off from the area surrounding Athens Polytechnic.

Thursday's walkout by public and private sector workers, the second nationwide action to have taken place in the past two weeks, grounded flights, shut schools and halted public transport.

photos -  http://www.flickr.com/photos/filkaler/