Athens transport to be disrupted on Tuesday as workers strike

Services will be suspended on the Athens Metro, city buses, trolley buses and the electric railway (ISAP) next Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. as workers walk off the job to protest cutbacks and demand better conditions.

The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) called the five-hour walkout to protest the government’s austerity policies and to demand talks with Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis.

They are demanding more state funding for transport, following a series of budget cuts, the restoration of collective wage bargaining rights, new hirings and an upgrade of aging wagons and vehicles. Another demand is for the government to halt plans to privatize the rail services operator Trainose and carriage maintenance firm Rosco.