Greek Truckers Block Highways, Clash with Police

VOA Breaking News
September 22, 2010 at 3:15 pm

Greek truck drivers blocked two major highways leading to Athens and clashed with police outside parliament Wednesday, to protest lawmakers’ approval of a bill that will open up the road freight industry to competition.

It was the 10th straight day of protests against the Socialist government’s labor market reforms.

Several hundred truck drivers tried to break through a security barricade around the parliament building in Athens. Protesters threw bottles, stones and wooden sticks at police, who responded with tear gas.

Earlier Wednesday, Greek lawmakers agreed to scrap a decades-old system that effectively prevented new truck operators from obtaining licenses.

The bill was expected to win final approval in a second vote to be held later in parliament, where the government holds a comfortable majority.

The reforms are part of an austerity program the Greek government agreed to implement in return for $144 billion in emergency loans from European countries and the International Monetary Fund.

More than 2,000 truck drivers marched in Athens on Tuesday to protest the bill.

Existing operators who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their licenses say the reforms will drive them into bankruptcy.

Some information in this story was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.