After the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced the shutdown of ERT, thousands of workers of the biggest labor unions in the country have gone on strike.

The bus and train workers joined the strike on Thursday against the sudden halt of the broadcaster. They are now threatening to continue the strike for 24 hours bringing the country to standstill.

It emerged that the government announced the shutdown temporarily as of now. There are plans to re-launch the channel in slimmed format. According to Simos Kedikoglou, a Spokesman for the government and a former state TV Journalist, the channel lacked transparency and was a waste.

The move has led to arousal of anger among the people resulting in strike. "In a systematic and autocratic way, the government has abolished the rights of workers and citizens. We call on every citizen to fight to overthrow the government's catastrophic plans", said the public-sector union ADEDY.

Addressing the issue, Samaras said that he was planning the reform of RT and wanted to launch it in an efficient form. He said that the defenders of the broadcaster were nothing more than hypocrites and denied their remarks.

However, the decision sparked rage among the leftwing parties who were seen urging people to defend democracy.