Transport Workers In Bolivia Strike Due To Rise In Fuel Prices

Bus drivers and other transport employees in Bolivia began an indefinite strike Monday in protest against an increase of more than 70 percent in the price of fuel.

The drivers are striking due to a 73 percent raise in gasoline prices and an 83 percent increase in the cost of diesel fuel. The Bolivian government said it raised prices to encourage more fuel production in Bolivia and to cutdown on the smuggling of cheap, subsidized fuel across Bolivian borders to other countries.

Fresh Transport Strike Hits Greece

Employees at Greek public-transport companies walked off the job Thursday in a 24-hour strike that has led to early-morning traffic chaos on the streets of Athens.

During the morning rush hour, television images showed traffic jams stretching for kilometers on different main arteries of the city as Athenians resorted to private transport to get to work.

The strike, which has affected bus, trolley, tram and subway services, is the second all-day strike by public-transport employees this week and comes after a nationwide common strike Wednesday that paralyzed the country and led to violent protests in Athens. Rail workers at the national railroad company, OSE, are also striking Thursday.

Greek Public Transport Workers Hold Second Strike Amid Wage Cuts

Public transport in Athens and train services across Greece shut down for a second 24-hour strike in less than a week as the government prepare to push through wage cuts to meet pledges in a 110 billion-euro ($147 billion) bailout package.

The metro in the Greek capital, used by 620,000 people every day, along with buses, trolleys and trams, won’t run at all today. Intercity trains are also canceled. The strike will be repeated on Dec. 16 and follows a series of walkouts since Dec. 8. ADEDY, the largest public-sector union, and General Confederation of Labor, or GSEE, Greece’s biggest private- industry union, will hold a three-hour walkout today, before a planned common strike tomorrow.

Public transport employees wages will be trimmed at least 10 percent under a bill to be voted on in parliament later today as Prime Minister George Papandreou deepens cuts to meet targets under the European Union-led rescue package.

Greek Public Transport Workers Go on Strike Against Salary Cuts

Public transport in Athens and train services across Greece are shut down today as state workers protest against salary cuts in wages and bonuses and the reorganization of state-controlled companies.

The metro, used by 620,000 Athenians every day, along with buses, trolleys and trams, will not work all day according to a spokesman at the Athens Urban Transport Organization, who declined to be named. Intercity trains were also canceled, according to an e-mailed statement from Hellenic Railways.

The metro system usually operates from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. and is the main link between the city center and Athens International Airport. The strike will not affect operations at the airport or ferry services at the port of Piraeus.

No end in sight to Cape Town train strike

Train users in the Western Cape might have to make alternative travel arrangements as strike by Metrorail employees in the province looks set to continue, union Utatu said on Wednesday.

United Transport and Allied Union general secretary Chris de Vos also warned that it could spread to other provinces if workers’ grievances are not sorted out. He could not say when the strike would stop.

About 600 000 passenger journeys are made on Metrorail trains each day, company spokesperson Riana Scott said.

Commuters only found out about the cancelled trains on Wednesday morning as Metrorail was “unable to inform them before”, Scott told News24.

Greek Strike Disrupts Public Transport

A three day strike by Greek seamen combined with a three-hour work strike by public and private-sector unions protesting the government's austerity measures disrupted public transport across capital Athens on Thursday.

Coastal ferries and passenger ships remained docked at ports across the country for the second consecutive day after the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation extended its strike for extra 48 hours.

Hundreds of little Greek islanders without airports had no other means of access to the mainland due to the strike that began on Tuesday. The industrial action left medication and food supplies unattended in trucks and containers at ports.

The seamen are demanding job protection, creation of an independent unemployment fund and a two per cent increase in wages.

ADEDY, the main union for public employees, called a three-hour work stoppage beginning 12 noon and a protest rally outside the Parliament. GSEE, Greece's private-sector union representing two million workers, also joined the stir.

Unions: Portugal Strike Halts Factories, Transport

Tens of thousands of employees walked off the job in Portugal Wednesday, idling ports, trains and stores in the biggest strike in three years, part of a union-led protest against government plans to cut public-worker salaries and raise taxes.

The strike comes as Prime Minister Jose Socrates and his socialist government struggles to restore confidence in its economy and avoid becoming a victim of the government-debt crisis that has brought Greece and now Ireland to the brink of economic collapse. Portuguese bonds have taken a beating in current days as investors remain skeptical about the government's ability to slash the budget deficit.

"The country is imposing very harsh measures and the ones who will suffer are the employees, who had nothing to do with making the crisis happen in the first place," said Rita Silva, an official of the opposition Left Bloc, the fourth-biggest party in parliament.

Accompanied by a dozen youngsters banging on drums in central Lisbon, Ms. Silva added that "our salaries and benefits will be cut. Meanwhile banks and bankers maintain to lead their normal lives."