(16 Jun 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Acropolis hill with Parthenon temple
2. Wide exterior of metro station
3. Close up of metro station sign reading: (Greek and English) "Akropoli" (Acropolis)
4. Wide of empty metro stairway
5. Pan of gate with sign informing of strike
6. Close up of sign reading: (Greek and English) "Due to a 24-hour strike of employees on Wednesday, 16 June 2010, the Metro will not be running"
7. Wide of empty metro station interiors
8. SOUNDBITE: (Greek) Vox pop, Smaro Kabaki, Athens commuter
(answering question on how disruptive this strike is and whether she agrees with demonstrators):
"I don't know if there is another way for someone to protest. So I can't easily reply to this. As a citizen who needs to commute I am disrupted but there must be a reason (for the strike)."
9. Wide of tourists outside metro station
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vox pop, Anna-Lise Labrecht, tourist from Belgium:
(answering question on whether the strike disrupts her)
"It's a side of Greece so I don't mind. We have time so we'll get there (going to Piraeus harbour)."
11. Tourists from Belgium leaving metro area
12. Close up of Athens map from metro station
13. Wide of Greek and European Union (EU) flags near ancient Greek columns
14. Various of central Athens traffic
STORYLINE
Workers on the Athens metro system went on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, bringing the capital's underground railway system to a halt.
The employees were striking in support of 285 contract workers whose contracts were expiring and who face losing their jobs.
The gate on the metro station near the ancient rock of the Acropolis was rolled down.
A gate on the sign informed commuters of the 24-hour underground strike.
"As a citizen who needs to commute I am disrupted but there must be a reason (for the strike)," said commuter Smaro Kabaki.
Tourists from Belgium who were on their way to Piraeus harbour to continue their holidays in the Greek islands said the strike didn't really affect them.
"It's a side of Greece so I don't mind. We have time so we'll get there," said Anna-Lise Labrecht.
The underground strike caused heavy traffic in the Greek capital as commuters sought alternative means of transportation.
The Athens metro is the only underground rail service operating in Greece.
All public transport workers have also called a five-hour work stoppage for Thursday to protest salary cuts and social security reforms, which the government is imposing in order to pull Greece out of its debt crisis, and to meet the terms of a rescue package from the EU and IMF.
Buses, trains, the metro and trams will not operate on Thursday from 11:00 (08:00 GMT) until 13:00 (16:00 GMT).
After amassing a vast public debt and overspending that sent its budget deficit spiralling to 13.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, Greece was saved from defaulting on its loans in May by the first instalment of a joint European Union EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) 110 (b) billion euro (134 (b) billion US dollars) bailout.
It is to receive the second tranche in September, pending implementation of a major austerity programme that has sparked strong union reaction and a series of damaging strikes.
In return for the bailout, Prime Minister George Papandreou's centre-left government announced painful austerity measures, slashing pensions and salaries while increasing indirect taxes, seeking to gradually bring the deficit down to 2.6 percent in 2014.
The continued flow of EU and IMF funds is conditional on Greece meeting its targets, which will remain under constant scrutiny.
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