Greece breaks up Athens metro strike

Storm of protest as riot police move in and strikers are warned they face arrest and risk losing jobs if they refuse to work

The Greek government has ignited a storm of protest following a controversial decision to forcibly return striking metro workers to work.

With unions condemning the move as resonant of "authoritarian rule" and other transport workers walking out in solidarity, Athens's fragile three-party coalition is facing one of its biggest tests since assuming power last June.

The prime minister, Antonis Samaras, said he had resorted to the emergency step on Thursday because commuters could no longer be held hostage to unions who had created unprecedented traffic chaos in the capital since announcing the action eight days ago.

"The Greek people have made enormous sacrifices and I will not allow exceptions," said the conservative leader, referring to hostility over austerity measures that the EU and IMF have demanded to prop up the moribund Greek economy. "Transport does not belong to the unions – it belongs to the people and they have the right to use it."

Highlighting the government's resolve, riot police stormed the metro's main depot in a pre-dawn raid on Friday morning to remove protesting employees who had vowed to intensify the strike.

State-run television showed police handing strikers civil mobilisation papers. The workers, who had defied court decisions labelling the action "illegal and abusive", face immediate arrest and loss of jobs if they refuse to return to work in the next 24 hours.

Under immense pressure to enforce unpopular cuts from international creditors – the source of funds keeping debt-crippled Greece afloat – the governing coalition has almost no room for manoeuvre in rolling back on reforms that will see metro workers' pay fall by around 20%.

But the decision to invoke emergency laws mobilising workers in a country where industrial action is regarded as a hallowed right has antagonised other transport unions representing employees operating trams, trolleys, trains and buses, prompting them to take the rare step of walking off the job in solidarity.

The small Democratic Left party, which is supporting the conservative-dominated government, has likewise been put on the defensive, describing the draconian measure as an "extreme choice" and calling for further dialogue.

With both sides digging in their heels, transport unions have declared mass rallies as passions also rise inside parliament where parties vehemently opposed to the stringent terms of the bailouts Greece has signed up to with the EU and IMF have added to the rising political temperature.

Emboldened by the support, unionists have ratcheted up the rhetoric. "The mobilisation order is tantamount to dictatorship. Let them [the government] come and collect dead bodies. Let them send in the army," said Antonis Stamatopoulos, head of the union of transport workers. "With its decision the government has proved its inability to reach a solution. Everyone has to assume their responsibility. We won't leave. Others are going to lose their posts."

As Greece endures a sixth straight year of recession amid record levels of poverty and unemployment there are fears the metro strike could be a prelude to much wider social unrest in the coming months.