A two-day General Strike is underway in Greece as Parliament prepares to vote on a new round of austerity measures which unions argue will devastate the poor and drive a failing economy to collapse.
Thousands are expected to join a march in Athens in protest at the 18.5 billion euros (£14.8bn) of proposed cuts, which include a rise in the retirement age to 67 as well as pensions being slashed by up to 15% for workers whose pots are worth more than 1,000 euros (£800) per month.
The effects of the strike - organised by the country's two main unions - are being felt internationally, with scores of flights cancelled as air traffic controllers join the walkout.
Public bus workers in the capital joined taxi drivers as well as metro, tram and train workers in walking out, paralysing traffic in the capital.
Ferry lines were also crippled, as ships linking to Greece's islands remained docked.
The government argues that the strikes only make the country's dire economic situation more perilous.
It needs the austerity bill to pass to pass through Parliament to secure crucial international aid totalling 31.5 billion euros (£25bn) and prevent the debt-laden nation from potentially defaulting later this month.
According to EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, the international lenders and Greece are on track to reach a deal to unfreeze the next tranche of loans at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on November 12.
The EU, European Commission and International Monetary Fund demanded more savings in return for further financial support.
The austerity package, which was put to Parliament late on Monday, would also include salary cuts for academics, hospital doctors, judges, diplomats and members of the armed forces.
Greek MPs are due to hold an emergency vote on Wednesday with opposition critics saying the measures will only deepen the country's five year recession.
But some Greeks have noted that there may not be a better solution.
Yannis Levas, who works in a recruitment company aimed at finding jobs for Greeks abroad, called the measures "a double-edged sword. "On the one side they must not go through, on the other they must. There is always that dilemma if we will return or not to the drachma," he said.
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