AlQa'dah 23, 1432, Oct 21, 2011, SPA -- A week-long strike by Greek ferry workers that has already caused shortages for the country's islands was Friday extended by several days, while mounds of rotting rubbish continued to pile up on the streets of Athens, according to dpa. Ferries were confined to Greek ports for the fifth straight day and workers said they would continue their strike until at least Sunday. Meanwhile, nurses and garbage collectors, who have been issued with civil mobilization orders to return to work after being on strike for the past three weeks, announced a new 24-hour strike. Greek labour unions are considering a new round of strikes next week after the government passed a controversial austerity bill on Thursday. Demonstrations against the new measures and attended by tens of thousands of people on Wednesday and Thursday turned violent, leaving one person dead and dozens injured. Hundreds of rioting youths smashed, burned and looted their way through central Athens, clashing with peaceful demonstrators and riot police. The new austerity bill consists of new tax hikes, further pension and salary cuts, the dismissal of 30,000 public servants and the suspension of collective labour contracts. The vote weakened the ruling Socialist PASOK party, which now has a majority of just 153 in the 300-seat parliament after Prime Minister George Papandreou expelled a former labour minister who disagreed with an article that limits collective labour bargaining rights. Greece's international creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have been pressuring the government to move quickly with the reforms as a condition to secure a new tranche of bailout aid worth 8 billion euros (11 billion dollars).
