The rally staged by the two umbrella unions of public and private sector employees ADEDY and GSEE was the culmination of a string of events organized for Wednesday' s general strike.

A demonstrator throw petrol bombs at riot police during a protest in Athens on December 15, 2010. Police fired teargas at protesters who threw dozens of petrol bombs outside parliament on Wednesday as Greek protests against government austerity measures escalated. [Marios Lolos/Xinhua]

The strike grounded flights, closed factories, disrupted hospitals and shut down trains, ferries and buses across Greece.

Local television and radio channels, Internet news outlets, and the national news agency also did not broadcast news as journalists joined the strike along with taxi drivers and lawyers.

"There is huge participation in this strike... I believe it will put pressure on the government," Stathis Anestis, deputy leader of Greece's largest union, the GSEE, told The Associated Press, "We want the government to take back the latest labor law that will hurt workers' rights."

Crippled by high budget deficits and a mountain of debt, Greece was saved from bankruptcy in May by an international rescue loan package. In return, the Socialist government slashed pensions and salaries, hiked taxes, raised retirement ages and eased restrictions on private sector layoffs.

Late Tuesday, the government won a key vote in parliament on new labor reforms that include deeper pay cuts, salary caps and involuntary staff transfers at state companies. The new law also reduces unions' collective bargaining power in the private sector, allowing employers to substantially cut salaries.