Protesters gather for annual May Day rally

(1 May 2009) SHOTLIST Athens 1. Wide of cordoned off Amalias Avenue that passes in front of parliament, demonstrators gathering in the distance 2. Demonstrators gathering 3. Various of man and boy holding flags 4. Wide of demonstrators attaching placards to lamp-posts 5. Placard calling for May 1 protest 6. Set-up shot of Giorgos Skadiotis, member of PAME (All Workers Militant Front), the Communist-backed trade union 7. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Giorgos Skadiotis, member of PAME (All Workers Militant Front) spokesperson: "Our aim is for the working class of Athens to demonstrate and express its opposition to the anti-worker measures imposed by the government and by employers whose goal is to make the workers pay for the crisis in capitalism." 8. Wide of demonstrators holding red flags gathering 9. Wide of empty tram platform 10. Sign at tram stop announcing 24 hour strike 11. People passing by closed bank 12. People sitting at bus stop 13. Pan exterior of Athens International Airport 14. Flags outside airport 15. Wide interior of airport 16. Passengers lined up at check-in 17. Suitcases of people waiting to check in 18. Wide of people looking at departure boards 19. Departure board showing cancelled flights 20. Woman waiting in line at Olympic Airlines ticket counter to change ticket after her flight was cancelled 21. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Vox pop (no name given), woman whose flight was cancelled: "I don't know why they book our tickets when they know there's going to be a strike today." Piraeus 22. Wide of ships in port 23. Ropes attaching ships to dock 24. Various of workers sitting on dock 25. Wide of closed gate at port with docked ships STORYLINE: Protest groups gathered in Athens on Friday ahead of May Day marches, as strikes disrupted public transport, ferry services and flights by Greek carrier Olympic Airlines. Police have cleared streets of traffic in the centre of the capital for the annual rallies on the labour day public holiday, with riot police standing by for any potential violence. Labour unions and left-wing parties have planned several demonstrations in Athens and other major cities. The protests will focus on the effect of the international financial crisis, which has slowed growth and fuelled unemployment in Greece. Giorgos Skadiotis, a member of Communist-backed trade union PAME (All Workers Militant Front), said demonstrators would express "opposition to the anti-worker measures imposed by the government and by employers whose goal is to make the workers pay for the crisis in capitalism." Olympic Airlines cancelled more than 100 flights on Friday, including at least six international services. At Athens' main port of Piraeus, ferry services to Aegean Sea islands have also been halted. Friday's protests follow last month's nationwide general strike, which shut down all government offices and state schools, while state hospitals functioned with emergency staff. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' conservative government recently announced a salary freeze for many civil servants and a one-off tax increase on higher-income earners. The move angered unions, which said high-earning businesses should shoulder the burden. They also oppose a government decision to let struggling businesses relax labour rules. The conservatives, who hold a one-seat majority in parliament and trail the main opposition Socialists in opinion polls, are struggling to cope with the economic downturn. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...