Greece Passes Job Cuts As Thousands Protest

Greece's parliament has narrowly approved a new batch of austerity measures that will see thousands of public-sector job cuts.

The country has been kept out of bankruptcy since it started receiving rescue loans in 2010 from the International Monetary Fund and other euro nations.

However austerity measures demanded in return have caused a dramatic increase in poverty and unemployment.

The new legislation will put 12,500 public-sector staff, mostly teachers and municipal workers, in a program that subjects them to involuntary transfers and possible dismissals.

It will also pave the way for 15,000 layoffs by the end of next year.

City halls across the country have been closed this week, with uncollected rubbish piling up on the streets, and unions held a general strike on Tuesday against the proposed cuts.

Thousands of protesters chanted slogans before the vote

"I fully understand the hardship the Greek people are going through during the great crisis," Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said during the debate.

"But I am fully convinced that the path we have chosen is correct."

Some 3,000 people protested outside Parliament in central Athens ahead of the vote, chanting anti-austerity slogans in a third straight day of protests.

The crucial vote came hours before a visit to Athens by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, planned amid security measures that Greece's left-wing main opposition party denounced as "fascist and undemocratic".

The measures include a ban of all demonstrations in the city centre, including the area outside Parliament that has been the focus of past violent protests.

It was the first major test for conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras since a left-wing party abandoned his coalition government last month.

The government claims it has already made progress in stabilising the shattered economy.

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