<p>Athens: A strike by Greek workers on Wednesday left ferries docked at ports, flights to and from the country grounded and trains at a standstill, with Greece's largest trade unions demanding higher wages to cope with rising living costs.</p><p>Greece has emerged from a 2009-2018 debt crisis which led to rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth some 290 billion euros. Economic growth, seen at a 2.3% this year, is now outpacing other eurozone economies.</p>.Strikes and protests over deadly train crash bring Greece to standstill.<p>The conservative government has increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35% to 880 euros since 2019. But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid rising food, power and housing costs, the labour unions say.</p><p>"We're buying fewer goods by 10% compared to 2019," GSEE, which represents more than 2 million private sector workers, said in a statement. "We're striking for the obvious. Pay rises and collective labour contracts now!"</p><p>Striking protesters were expected to rally in central Athens around noon.</p><p>Greece's minimum salary in terms of purchasing power was among the lowest in the European Union in January, behind Portugal and Lithuania, Eurostat data showed.</p><p>At 1,342 euros a month, the average gross salary still stands 10% lower than in 2010, when Greece signed up to its fist bailout, according to labour ministry data.</p><p>The country is outperforming its 2% primary surplus targets, leaving some room for some wage increases, but the government says it must be fiscally prudent to limit interest levied on its debt, which is still the highest in the euro zone.</p><p>It has promised to bring the minimum wage up to 950 euros by 2027, as it targets an average gross monthly salary of 1,500 euros, closer to the EU average. But monthly expenses for food, utilities and housing have been growing fast.</p><p>"It's a gap that keeps getting bigger because of price hikes and inflation that affects energy and medicines," said Angelos Galanopoulos from the Seafarers Union.</p><p>Public sector workers, who were hit by measures to reduce a spendthrift state, have joined the strike, demanding annual bonuses that were scrapped over the past decade.</p>
<p>Athens: A strike by Greek workers on Wednesday left ferries docked at ports, flights to and from the country grounded and trains at a standstill, with Greece's largest trade unions demanding higher wages to cope with rising living costs.</p><p>Greece has emerged from a 2009-2018 debt crisis which led to rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth some 290 billion euros. Economic growth, seen at a 2.3% this year, is now outpacing other eurozone economies.</p>.Strikes and protests over deadly train crash bring Greece to standstill.<p>The conservative government has increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35% to 880 euros since 2019. But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid rising food, power and housing costs, the labour unions say.</p><p>"We're buying fewer goods by 10% compared to 2019," GSEE, which represents more than 2 million private sector workers, said in a statement. "We're striking for the obvious. Pay rises and collective labour contracts now!"</p><p>Striking protesters were expected to rally in central Athens around noon.</p><p>Greece's minimum salary in terms of purchasing power was among the lowest in the European Union in January, behind Portugal and Lithuania, Eurostat data showed.</p><p>At 1,342 euros a month, the average gross salary still stands 10% lower than in 2010, when Greece signed up to its fist bailout, according to labour ministry data.</p><p>The country is outperforming its 2% primary surplus targets, leaving some room for some wage increases, but the government says it must be fiscally prudent to limit interest levied on its debt, which is still the highest in the euro zone.</p><p>It has promised to bring the minimum wage up to 950 euros by 2027, as it targets an average gross monthly salary of 1,500 euros, closer to the EU average. But monthly expenses for food, utilities and housing have been growing fast.</p><p>"It's a gap that keeps getting bigger because of price hikes and inflation that affects energy and medicines," said Angelos Galanopoulos from the Seafarers Union.</p><p>Public sector workers, who were hit by measures to reduce a spendthrift state, have joined the strike, demanding annual bonuses that were scrapped over the past decade.</p>