Public transport services in Athens will be disrupted on May 1 as workers across multiple sectors participate in strike actions marking International Workers’ Day. Bus, trolley and metro services will operate on limited schedules, while ferries will remain docked nationwide for 24 hours.
According to announcements by the OASA Bus Workers’ Union and the ILPAP Trolley Workers’ Union, buses and trolleys in Athens will run only between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., with work stoppages before and after those hours. Suburban bus lines managed under OASA contracts are expected to operate as usual.
Workers say the strikes honor labor struggles of the past and demand safer, modern and more reliable public transit.
“May 1st is not only a day of remembrance for the pioneers of the labor movement, but also a day of protest and strike action,” the unions said in a joint statement.
Metro employees will also hold work stoppages, halting service from the start of the shift until 9 a.m., and again from 9 p.m. until the end of service. Similar disruptions are expected across rail and fixed-track transit, as the Panhellenic Federation of Rail and Fixed Track Workers (POS-MST) joins the nationwide strike called by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE).
All ferry services across Greece will be suspended for 24 hours, after the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) declared a full-day strike.
Ships will remain docked from 12:01 a.m. to midnight on May 1. The federation said the strike pays tribute to the labor struggles of the 1886 Chicago movement and all who fought for workers’ rights.
The strikes are expected to impact tens of thousands of commuters and travelers across the country.