Nationwide strike over deadly train accident paralyzes Greece

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) – Public transportation across Greece was paralyzed on Thursday as private and public sector unions took a 24-hour strike action to urge those responsible for the deadly train crash are brought to justice and demand safer transportation system.

The nationwide strike was called by both the public sector union federation ADEDY and the private sector workers’ confederation GSEE.

They staged rallies in several cities countrywide, disrupting transportation across Greece and shutting down public services, local media reported.

Busses, trams, the metro line, trains and taxis will not operate during the strike action. Also, Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air canceled all flights due to air traffic controllers' participation in the walkout, while boats will remain docked at the ports.

School teachers, doctors and hospital employees are also participating in the strike.

Protest rallies are scheduled to be held in many cities, demanding answers to the head-on train collision on Feb. 28 that left at least 57 dead.

“Our country is experiencing days of national mourning after the deadly accident in Tempi, which claimed the lives of at least 57 people, mostly young children … Demonstrations, messages on walls, in schoolyards, in university halls have overwhelmed the entire country.

“Each and all of us want to express in our own way our eternal disappointment for what did not happen, but above all the anger for what happened in Tempi,” the GSEE said in a statement.

The three questions that should be answered immediately are why did this tragedy happen, who is responsible for it, and how will it never happen again, the private sector union said.

“Our dead railway colleagues, also victims of the unspeakable tragedy, with their deaths not only reveal everything that some have diligently hidden throughout time, namely the responsibilities of governments and the systematic undermining of railway infrastructure, but also bring to light the macabre sum of the long list of dead workers who lost their lives in work accidents in recent years in our country,” the statement concluded.