Media caption The BBC's Mark Lowen says thousands are waving flags and chanting slogans in Syntagma Square 
 
 Workers in Greece are staging a 48-hour general strike across the public and private sectors in protest at a proposed new wave of austerity. 
 
 Public transport has been shut down, but fewer people have demonstrated than during previous stoppages. 
 
 MPs are due to vote on the package of salary and pension cuts, and labour market reforms, on Wednesday. 
 
 Greece must back the measures, and the 2013 budget, to receive the next part of a bailout and avoid bankruptcy. 
 
 The latest strike, called by Greece's two biggest labour unions, representing half the four million-strong workforce, started at midnight. 
 
 Trains, ferries and some international flights have all been cancelled, schools closed, and hospitals reportedly open only for emergencies. 
 
 It's the third major walkout in two months as Greece tries to reduce its budget deficit in line with international demands. 
 
 The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says that with proposals for a fifth consecutive cut to pensions, an increase in the retirement age and reductions to salaries, benefits and healthcare, the fury among Greece's population is growing. 
 
 Measures in austerity package Retirement age up from 65 to 67 
 
 A further round of pension cuts, of 5-15% 
 
 Salary cuts, notably for police officers, soldiers, firefighters, professors, judges, justice officials; minimum wage also reduced 
 
 Holiday benefits cut 
 
 35% cut to severance pay 
 
 Redundancy notice reduced from six to four months 
 
 Anais Metaxopolou, a 65-year-old pensioner demonstrating outside the Greek parliament, said: "They should go to hell and beyond. 
 
 "They should ask me how I feel when I have to go to church to beg for food." 
 
 Police have been deployed outside the parliament building in Athens. Larger demonstrations are expected on Wednesday when Greek MPs vote on a package which ministers say should save a total of 13.5bn euros (£11bn; $17bn). 
 
 Approving the tough reforms and passing the 2013 budget are key to receiving a 31.5bn-euro instalment from the International Monetary Fund and European Union that has been on hold for months. 
 
 Rebels 
 
 The government must meet a 5bn-euro debt repayment in mid-November and says it needs the bailout cash to avoid going bankrupt. 
 
 However, the Democratic Left Party, which is the junior member of the three-party governing coalition, is refusing to back the package. 
 
 The second biggest coalition party, the socialist Pasok, is also facing a rebellion by some MPs. 
 
 Key dates ahead 6-7 Nov General strike 
 
 General strike 7 Nov Vote on austerity package 
 
 Vote on austerity package 11 Nov Vote on budget 
 
 Vote on budget 12 Nov Eurozone finance ministers to discuss releasing new cash for Greece 
 
 Eurozone finance ministers to discuss releasing new cash for Greece 16 Nov Deadline for Greece to repay 5bn euros in debt 
 
 Prime Minister Antonis Samaras hopes that even without the their support, he will have enough votes to get the austerity package through on Wednesday, and the budget on Sunday. 
 
 He has tried to reassure the public, who have endured repeated rounds of austerity and a five-year recession, that these would be "the last cuts in wages and pensions". 
 
 But Greeks have heard similar promises before, and Ilias Iliopoulos, head of public sector union ADEDY, said they had now had enough. 
 
 "We're calling on every lawmaker in parliament, without exception, and we're telling them that 100% of workers in the public sector are saying that they should not vote for these measures," he said. ||||| 1 of 13. A protester stands in front of a banner during an anti-austerity rally in front of the parliament in Athens November 6, 2012. 
 
 ATHENS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Greeks began a crippling 48-hour strike on Tuesday to protest against a new round of wage and pension cuts that parliament is expected to approve by a narrow margin. 
 
 The parliamentary vote on Wednesday is the biggest test yet for the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, which needs victory to secure aid from foreign lenders but has failed to convince its smallest coalition partner and the public to back the reforms. 
 
 The strike, called by Greece's two biggest labor unions representing half of the four million-strong workforce, brought public transport to a virtual standstill and shuttered schools, banks and local government offices. 
 
 A crowd of about 16,000 protesters - fewer than is usual during Greece's frequent strikes - gathered outside parliament in Athens, waving flags, beating drums and chanting "People, don't bow your heads!" and "This strike is only the beginning". 
 
 It was the third major walkout in two months against the package of public spending cuts and reforms making it easier to hire and fire workers, which many Greeks feel penalize the poor and spare a wealthy elite. 
 
 "The measures are wrong, the politicians and the rich aren't paying their taxes and the only ones paying are those on 300 and 500 euros a month," said Dimitris Karavelas 42, who has been forced to shut down his small construction company. 
 
 Successions of strikes since Greece fell into crisis in 2009 have so far failed to prevent parliament from approving the international lender-prescribed cuts, which have inflicted misery on the country and kept the economy in a deep recession. 
 
 "TO HELL AND BEYOND" 
 
 The government has implored Greeks to endure the cuts to avoid national bankruptcy and promised this will be the last round of pain. Greeks, who have seen many such promises broken before, have responded with a mix of resignation and anger. 
 
 "They should go to hell and beyond," said Anais Metaxopoulou, a 65-year-old pensioner. "They should ask me how I feel when I have to go to church to beg for food. I wouldn't hurt a fly but I would happily behead one of them." 
 
 Parliamentary approval for the package - which includes cutting pensions by as much as a quarter and scrapping holiday bonuses - is needed to ensure Greece's European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders release more than 31 billion euros ($40 billion) of aid, much of it aimed at shoring up banks. 
 
 With 16 deputies from the small Democratic Left planning to vote against reforms and a non-committal response from at least five Socialist lawmakers, Samaras can count on the support of only about 154 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. 
 
 Any further defections from the Socialist PASOK party could put the government at risk of falling below the 151 votes needed to pass the measures, ushering in political chaos that would once again raise fears of a Greek euro zone exit. 
 
 NOTHING LEFT TO CUT 
 
 Exasperated by years of broken promises to reform, Greece's lenders have warned Athens that it cannot afford to fail again. 
 
 "Our Greek friends have no options or choice. They have to do it," said Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers. "I am very optimistic." 
 
 Trains, buses and the subway came to a halt as the strike began. Many flights have been cancelled, ships remained in port and taxi drivers stayed off the streets. 
 
 The opposition anti-bailout Syriza party, which polls show is leading in popularity, called for a big turnout in rallies against measures it said would deal a "final blow" to society. 
 
 Police beefed up security to prepare for clashes with hooded protesters that usually mark demonstrations. 
 
 But by 1330 GMT demonstrators had peacefully dispersed from Syntagma Square, where protesters have frequently clashed with police in front of parliament. 
 
 Greece's economy has shrunk by a fifth since the debt crisis exploded. Public debt is seen at 189 percent of gross domestic product next year and Athens is expected to be widely off track from targets under its latest bailout agreed with the troika of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. 
 
 Many Greeks say the latest cuts will do little to solve the country's debt problem and instead could tear society apart. 
 
 "Someone needs to tell them there's nothing left to cut," said Vassilis Dimosthenous, a 50-year-old construction worker who has been without a job for 10 months. "They've made our daily lives unbearable. If only I was 10 years younger I'd leave this place." 
 
 (Additional reporting by Kevin Lim in Singapore, Writing by Deepa Babington; editing by Janet McBride)
– Greeks today launched a 48-hour general strike in protest of new spending cuts, with an estimated 2 million people—from lawyers to hospital employees—taking part. The union-organized strike has shut down banks, schools, and public transportation as Parliament prepares vote on the cuts tomorrow. It must support the austerity measures in order to continue receiving bailout money, and the measures appear likely to squeak through. But that's not exactly making legislators popular with protesters: "They should go to hell and beyond," says a 65-year-old pensioner. "They should ask me how I feel when I have to go to church to beg for food. I wouldn't hurt a fly, but I would happily behead one of them." Officials say these are the last cuts that the country will have to endure, but Greeks may not believe it, Reuters notes. "We promised to avert the country's exit from the euro and this is what we are doing. We have given absolute priority to this, because if we do not achieve this, everything else will be meaningless," says Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. The three-party coalition's smallest party, the Democratic Left, has rejected the cuts, notes the BBC. Samaras needs 151 votes to pass the measure; he currently appears to have 154. But if any more members of the Socialist Pasok party abandon the plan, he could face trouble.