ATHENS (Reuters – Metro trains came to a halt, and ships docked at ports. This was as thousands of people joined May Day protests in Greece to oppose rising food and energy prices.

The price of gas and electricity has risen, with the price increases exacerbated in part by Russia’s sanctions following Ukraine’s February 24 invasion. This has led to a rise in inflation that is now at multi-year highs.

According to police, around 10,000 protestors marched through central Athens in protest at the rising cost of living.

“It’s very difficult and workers are finding it more difficult every day. “We will fight it because the working class can no longer survive,” Katerina Dekaristou (a teacher) said outside the parliament.

Greece emerged from the 2018 financial crisis and suffered a severe economic setback.

Since September last year, the conservative government subsidised gas and power bills in order to cushion businesses and households at an estimated 4 billion euro ($4.22 trillion).

The minimum wage has been increased to 713 euro per month, the second increase in this fiscal year. However, pay is still very low in light of rising power costs.

Everything has increased. The price of electricity, gasoline, and other necessities has all risen. It’s chaotic. We can’t get paid fast enough to pay something else. “We are working with all means to reduce what (not) is necessary to pay these items,” Pantelis Iordanou said, a car body painter.

Kyriakos Mitchells, Prime Minister of Greece, has asked the European Union to take joint actions in order to resolve the problem.

Giannis Oikonomou, a government spokesperson, said that no matter what Europe does, the Greek government would announce additional across-the-board measures to reduce the consumer impact.

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