ATHENS: Communist-backed union demonstrators have broken their way into Greece's Labor Ministry and clashed with riot police outside the prime Minister's office, in protest at a new agreement between the country and bailout creditors that includes limiting the right to strike.
Tuesday's clashes in central Athens occurred hours after finance ministers from the 19 eurozone countries backed a provisional agreement on the terms of a late-January bailout disbursement.
Police fired tear gas outside the office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after protesters forced their way past a cordon and clashed with officers on duty.
Labor reforms are highly controversial in Greece, where unemployment is more than 20 percent and poverty levels have surged over the past few years since the country first required an international financial rescue in 2010.