Athens public transport grinds to halt amid strike

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Public transport ground to a standstill in Athens Thursday as workers walked off the job for five hours to protest social security reforms that are part of the government's efforts to pull Greece out of its debt crisis.

Bus, tram and trolley workers were holding a work stoppage to protest salary cuts and the welfare benefits reforms, while metro workers walked off the job for their second consecutive 24-hour strike in support of 285 contract workers whose contracts are expiring and face losing their jobs.

A communist party-backed labor union has also called for a protest rally for Thursday evening, a day after the government unveiled a draft presidential decree making it easier for companies to fire workers by raising the number of layoffs allowed and enabling lower compensation payments.

Under the Labor Ministry's proposed reforms, the number of workers that companies employing more than 150 people can fire will be increased to 5 percent of the work force per month from the current 2 percent. Smaller companies will be able to lay off a maximum of six workers.

The draft decree also slashes the notice period a company is required to give an employee being fired from the current 24 months to four months. If workers are given full notice, employers will pay half the compensation required for sudden layoffs.

Greece's main private sector union, GSEE, rejected the draft reforms as "unacceptable and unconstitutional," and vowed to challenge them in court.

"At a time when sackings and unemployment are on the rise, we need measures to discourage layoffs, not encourage them," a GSEE statement said.

Greece narrowly avoided defaulting on its loans last month, using the first installment of a euro110 billion ($135 billion) European Union and IMF package of rescue loans. To secure the funds, the center-left government took tough austerity measures meant to cut its massive budget deficit from 13.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 to 2.6 percent in 2014.

Continued payment of the bailout money is conditional on Greece fully implementing its cutbacks, and passing structural reforms to make the bloated public sector less wasteful and the shrinking economy more competitive.

A team of EU and IMF inspectors is in Athens this week to monitor Greece's progress. In their meetings with government officials they also will discuss proposed pension reforms that will raise retirement ages.