Greece’s biggest private sector union, GSEE, decided on Friday to call a 24-hour strike for Thursday, February 4, in protest at government reforms and particularly a contentious overhaul of the social security system.

Meeting in Athens, GSEE’s executive committee decided to ramp up the pressure against the government’s proposal and to join forces with other unions opposed to the reforms, including the country's umbrella union for the public sector, ADEDY.

In an announcement, the committee accused the government of turning “a social issue into a fiscal issue” and of “pitting one group of workers against the others and pensioners against each other.”

It also called for mass participation at a protest rally planned by several unions on Saturday, which will begin at noon at Omonia Square and make its way to Parliament in central Athens.

Farmers, meanwhile, were also on the protest trail on Friday, staging rallies in several parts of the country.