ATHENS (Reuters) - A 24-hour nationwide strike against the Greek government's pension reforms crippled transport on Wednesday and shut down public services as unions prepared for a large rally in Athens.
The ruling conservatives have pledged to push throughreforms to make the economy more competitive and rescueGreece's ailing pension system, which is expected to collapsewithin 15 years, but have faced strong resistance from unions.
Two days before Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis unveilshis reforms in parliament, flights to and from airports werescrapped, public transport ground to a halt and ships were tiedat ports as heavy traffic clogged the streets of Athens.
"The civil aviation authority is on strike so no flightswill take place today from any airport in the country," anAthens International airport official told Reuters.
Last week a senior government official said the governmentwill propose merging scores of pension funds into four to sixmain funds, raising retirement ages for some jobs with earlypension entitlements and giving incentives to work longer.
Unions have accused the government of making a U-turn sincewinning a second four-year term in September, after pledgingnot to raise the retirement age, cut pensions or raisecontributions.
Hospital doctors only treated emergencies, news programmeswent off the air while banks and state services also remainedshut.
"Today is a nightmare," driver Nikos Gioutis, stuck intraffic in central Athens, said. "For the last hour I havemoved a few hundred metres (yards) and it will just get worselater today with the rally."
Demonstrators, backed by the country's public and privatesector umbrella unions representing 2.5 million workers, areplanning to march to parliament with police trucks and riotsquads stationed near the building from early in the morning.
