ATHENS, Greece - October 5, 2011 - More than 20,000 public sector workers demonstrated in Athens Wednesday, in a strike against deeper austerity cuts that shut down courts, schools and transport, including air traffic.

Police used tear gas to clear away some of the protesters, including a 500-strong anarchist group, from central Syntagma Square opposite Parliament.

The protests organized by the two main Greek unions, ADEDY and GSEE, came ahead of a general strike on October 19, which will also affect banks and shops.

It was called in response to new taxes, wage cuts and layoffs imposed by a government fighting to avert a default on its debt payments, as the next tranche of international aid hangs in the balance.

“Every time the public deficit gets bigger, they impose new taxes; life is just getting too expensive,” said Stavros and Helena, a married couple employed at the city of Athens.

“They should just put us on a boat and send us away,” they said.

“All workers must unite and coordinate their forces against this storm of measures that strikes (at our) income and labor rights,” ADEDY chairman Costas Tsikrikas told Flash Radio.

“If we don’t resist we will lose everything,” he added.

Civil servants are protesting a plan to put some 30,000 employees on labor reserve or furlough, during which time they will be on reduced pay for a year while they try to find other jobs.