Thousands of people demonstrated in Athens and other cities Wednesday as a 24-hour general strike against the rising cost of living shut down public services and part of the transport network.

Some 15,000 people marched in the capital, while another 4,000 demonstrated in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, police said.

The Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) said the strike was a “riposte to the government’s refusal to take measures to guarantee a decent life for workers.

“The government has to understand that the prosperity of society depends on that of the workers,” it added in a statement.

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“Urgent action is needed to fight the surge in prices, unaffordable housing and the persistence of low wages,” said Esther Lynch, secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). She was in Greece to back the action, said the ETUC.

There is increasing anger in Greece not just at rising prices of food but also of housing, particularly acute in Athens, in a country where low wages are widespread.