PROTESTERS clashed with police in Athens and Thessaloniki yesterday as municipal workers continued strike action against privatisation of municipal services.

Rubbish lined the streets of the capital as dustbin workers led walkouts starting last Saturday against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s law, expected to pass in the Greek parliament last night, which opens the way to privatisation of sanitation, maintenance of public parks and street lighting services.

It also removes the right of municipal workers to collectively bargain over wages, terms and conditions.

Two thousand local government workers marched on parliament, carrying an empty coffin to symbolise the death of public services. 

After some tried to break through a police cordon, officers fired tear gas at the crowd.