On September 24, half of all scheduled flights to and from Greece were cancelled due to strike action of airport workers against the move to split up and prepare the sale of Greek airlines. The four-day strike involved most airport staff with the exception of air traffic controllers. In Athens, tram, bus and train staff brought public transport to a virtual standstill, as workers struck for six hours, against the threatened privatisation of public transport. They joined demonstrations against the budget cuts in the public sector in the two French-speaking states of western Switzerland. Workers at the University Hospital of Geneva, which employs eight thousand staff, spearheaded the protests.
Geneva has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.
Viasystems has announced the closure of two factories in Selkirk and Galashiels, with the loss of 1,000 jobs. This is the worst single job cut in the Scottish Borders region for more than 30 years. The area has already suffered thousands of job losses from the closure of its traditional textile industry. The closures will bring job losses in the Borders to 2,000 since May, double the total lost in the previous three years. Viasystems claim the closures are part of a process of cost-saving made necessary by the Asian crisis.