GREECE-ECONOMY-TRANSPORT-POLITICS-STRIKE

Athens metro employees on strikes peer out from network's headquarters on January 24, 2013 in Athens. The Greek government on Thursday faced internal dissent and the threat of a general transport strike after attempting to break an eight-day metro standstill.The government ordered a civil mobilisation to force the Athens metro staff to return to work, but the move was immmediately criticised by a leftist party that is part of the ruling coalition. Metro strikers reacted by barricading themselves inside the network's headquarters near Athens. Other unions from the public bus and train networks have pledged their support.Metro staff oppose government plans to reduce their pay and equate it with the broader public sector, part of reforms tied to the country's massive EU-IMF loan bailout. AFP PHOTO/ Louisa Gouliamaki (Photo credit should read LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images)