Thousands of people protested in Athens on Wednesday (April 6) in a one-day nationwide strike in a so-called "deepening crisis" working with rising prices and stagnant incomes, disruptions to traffic, ferries, schools and public hospitals.

The two largest workers' unions in the country, representing some 2.5 million workers in the public and private sectors, have called for an end to the general strike by an assembly in front of parliament.

For most of them, everyday life has become invaluable.

"Our lives are just in debt," said 60-year-old courier Georgios Alexandropoulos.

"I owe electricity and my landlord, I have leased for two months and I owe the last two electricity bills. "We'll be in debt soon ... we can't go on like this."

Another protester, 57-year-old psychologist Michalis Tokaras, said he was forced to "cut everything."

"We have to choose whether to pay our debt or pay the bills. We've reached the bottom," he said.

Police estimate that at least 10,000 people attended the rally. "We will not discount inflation," the banner reads. Greece emerged from a ten-year financial crisis in 2018, only because of a coronavirus pandemic that stopped traveling the world two years ago and damaged a vital tourism sector.

Today, rising energy prices, reinforced by sanctions against Russia since its February invasion of Ukraine, have further damaged workers' pockets.

"For the last 14 years, workers have suffered from a deep crisis that has affected everyone's incomes and lives," said GSEE, the country's umbrella private sector association.

"Over the years, the crisis has always deepened, the burdens remain, our rights have been diminished."

Annual consumer inflation in Greece rose to a 25-year high of 7.2 percent in February due to rising energy, housing and transport costs.

The government has spent about € 3.7 billion ($ 4 billion) since September to reduce the burden of rising energy and fuel prices on farmers, households and businesses. The GSEE said in March that it was proposing to increase the monthly gross minimum wage by 13 percent to 751 euros due to inflation.

The Conservative government raised the minimum wage by 2 percent to 663 euros in January, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised a second, larger increase from May 1.

Measures are not enough for striking workers.

"Recently, our salary - for those of us who have a job - has only lasted half a month in spending," said Christos Katsikas, a 60-year-old teacher.

(Source: // Reuters)