Transport systems, hospitals and schools hit, as workers say laws kill hopes of work-life balance

A general strike has paralysed Greece as unions step up industrial action against labour laws introducing a 13-hour work day in a country that already puts in some of the longest hours in Europe.

The 24-hour strike brought mass disruption to services across the country on Wednesday as thousands of workers in the public and private sector stopped work and took to the streets.

In both Athens and Thessaloniki, the country’s second biggest city, transport systems were halted, while hospital staff, teachers and other civil servants stopped working. The seas around the Greek capital were vessel-free as crews, heeding union calls, kept ferries in ports.