Greek Questions

"Greece has been brought to a standstill as angry workers stage a general strike over planned austerity measures.

All flights are grounded and no trains or ferries are running as transport workers join public sector staff who began a 48-hour strike on Tuesday. Thousands have taken part in rallies in Athens and police have clashed with some protesters outside parliament.

Spending cuts and tax rises are planned in return for a 110bn euro (£95bn) rescue package for Greece's economy. Parliament is to vote on the measures by the end of the week. Measures include wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises. They aim to achieve fresh budget cuts of 30bn euros over three years, with the goal of cutting Greece's public deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2014. It currently stands at 13.6%.

The general strike is the third to hit Greece in as many months.Meanwhile, the German parliament has begun considering the bail-out plan for Greece. Chancellor Angela Merkel urged MPs to back the emergency loan package agreed by European finance ministers. It requires Germany to pay the largest proportion of the loans. "Quite simply, Europe's future is at stake," she said. The EU has agreed to provide 80bn euros (£69bn) in funding - of which around 22bn euros would come from Germany - while the rest will come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Flights in and out of Greece stopped at midnight, and trains and ferries were not running. Schools, hospitals, and many offices are expected to remain shut. A mass rally took place in central Athens before protest marches passed through the city, with parliament again the focus of attention. TV images showed police firing teargas at a group of about 50 protesters who tried to reach the parliament building..."

http://libcom.org/news/general-strike-paralyses-greece-05052010

Does anyone have any direct contact with Greek general strikers?

Does anyone know if they will continue, even after the Eurozone bail out?

Do they protest on immediate concerns, or does this have a more revolutionary character?

Does anyone have an in depth and topical analysis, especially one which avoids college age obfuscation and sectarian jargon?

And in reading this, all that the authors suggests seems to amount to staged drawn downs, the better to preserve as much as possible already existing conditions. In other words, the preservation of the euro zone, and capital markets:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/its-not-about-greece-anymore/

Have I read this wrong?

(h/t Suburban Anarchist)