Greek unions are staging a 24-hour strike in protest against the surprise closure of the state broadcaster ERT on Tuesday.

The country’s two biggest labour unions GSEE and ADEDY represent an estimated 2.5 million public and private sector workers and are outraged by the surprise move which has resulted in the summary dismissal of more than 2,600 journalists, administrative staff and technicians.

In an official statement GSEE described the closure as a “coup d’etat” and an attempt to mute “the only independent and public voice which has to remain public”.

Transport, schools, hospitals and government offices are all affected by the general strike, which is the third this year.

The Athens Journalists’ Union (ESIEA) also called a 48-hour strike from Wednesday in solidarity with the state broadcaster, and said newspaper journalists would strike on Thursday for 24 hours.

The Panhellenic Journalists’ Union (POESY) also condemned the sudden closure: "Journalism is [being] persecuted. We won’t allow the voice of Greece to be silenced," POESY head George Savvides said in a statement

The immediate closure of ERT from midnight on Tuesday affected three TV channels, several radio stations and the national broadcaster’s internet service.

Police cut the power supply from ERT antennas while a breaking news programme was on air, just a few hours after the official announcement was made.

The dramatic decision was implemented through a simple executive order, without any sort of public consultation, nor any vote in parliament.

Although the closure of ERT is not expected to have any direct fiscal impact – its operations were funded by a TV licensing levy on electricity consumers – the Greek government believes that this symbolic move will convince the country’s creditors about the “determination of Athens to revamp its public sector”.

At the same time however, thousands more will be added to the long list of unemployed in a country that can only be described as the Eurozone’s “ground zero”.

Greece’s economy has contracted by almost 25 per cent since 2008, while unemployment exceeds 27 per cent, the highest in the Eurozone.

Sacred cow or sacrificial lamb?

"ERT is a case of an exceptional lack of transparency and incredible extravagance. This ends now," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said in a statement aired on ERT.

“At a time when the Greek people are enduring sacrifices, there is no room for delay, hesitation or tolerance for sacred cows”.

The government has proposed reopening the broadcaster in three months, under a new format and with considerably fewer employees, cutting the budget from around 300 to 100 million euros.

According to Kedikoglou, current employees will be compensated and will be allowed to reapply for jobs at the revamped organisation.

Following the government’s shock announcement, on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon hundreds of ERT employees gathered outside the Athens headquarters and vowed to fight the decision.

The workers, who called for a general media blackout in protest, were joined by media workers from the private sector, politicians and concerned members of the public.

In addition, the country’s private TV stations took shows off air replacing them with re-runs and adverts as part of a six-hour display of solidarity.

And ERT journalists are currently occupying their former workplaces both in Athens and in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki.

Athanasios Athanasiou, the ERT Brussels correspondent told Equal Times: "A true democracy cannot function properly without a public broadcaster.

“Greece as of today does not comply with the fundamental rules and values for participation in the European Union. There is no fiscal impact by the ERT shutdown. It is purely an issue of fundamental rights, democratic pluralism and the state’s obligation to ensure media freedom.

“There is no reassurance that any replacement organisation, whenever will be put in place can play this role any longer".

Austerity measures

The decision to close ERT was made by the Greek conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as part of the sweeping austerity measures demanded by international lenders in return for a massive bailout, and is putting the country’s already fragile three-party coalition under enormous strain.

The socialist Pasok party and the moderate Democratic Left both opposed the mass firing of ERT employees and the closure of the public broadcaster.

The two coalition partners also felt aggrieved that Prime Minister Samaras did not consult them properly.

However, a failure to agree on shutting down ERT could leave the coalition in a precarious position and the possibility of snap elections should not be ruled out.

But another round of political instability in Greece would once again put the country’s eurozone membership at stake.

The leader of the main opposition party Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, described the decision as "illegal" and said he would put forward a legislative amendment to parliament, following a planned meeting with Samaras.

The European Union said it did not question the government’s decision but conceded that public broadcasting was "an integral part of European democracy".

The European Commission’s Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said the decision to close ERT was taken by the Greek government without the influence of the troika.

"The Commission has not sought the closure of ERT, but nor does the Commission question the Greek government’s mandate to manage the public sector," Rehn told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"The decision of the Greek authorities should be seen in the context of the major and necessary efforts that the authorities are taking to modernise the Greek economy.

“Those include improving its efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector," he said in a statement to deputies.

The closure of ERT followed a major blow to the country’s privatisation program on Monday, when Russian energy giant Gazprom withdrew its interest in buying the Greek state gas firm DEPA. The privatisation was planned as part of a package of measures being put in place as part of an emergency funding package to allow Greece to meet its sovereign debt repayments.

However, Samaras has ruled out the need for new austerity measures to make up for the failure of the deal.

International creditors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Monday called for the immediate sacking of thousands of civil servants during talks with the Greek government, while the IMF admitted last week that although it had mishandled the early stages of Greece’s bailout, there would be no easing of austerity measures.