New strikes and protests hit Greece on Friday as lawmakers voted on draconian budget cuts and Prime Minister George Papandreou sought crucial support from Germany to combat the national debt crisis.

Thousands of communist protesters demonstrated in front of parliament as a debate on the austerity bill began. A larger demonstration was to follow with other rallies in Thessaloniki and other cities.

Greece's two main unions brought traffic to a standstill with a public sector strike intended as a shot across the bows of the Socialist government.

No public transport ran in Athens in the morning, all Greek airports were to close for four hours and giant traffic jams clogged the centre of the capital.

State hospitals ran on skeleton staff, while teachers and journalists also went on strike. Even the police union called on its members to join protests organised for the day. Unions called more strikes for next week.