Greece is in the grip of a new 24-hour general strike on Thursday, as the two main umbrella unions of public and private sector employees ADEDY and GSEE protest against the government's decision to shut down the public television and radio broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).

Thousands of people gathered in front of ERT headquarters in Athens for a third straight day on Thursday in a protest rally to express their solidarity with the 2,700 employees.

Protesters denounced the government's decision to "put an end to objective information and pluralism of news coverage," as ADEDY's announcement said.

"The Greek government, which has abolished one-by-one workers' rights, is going to follow the same strategy for other public organizations. The only target is to satisfy the memorandum commitments towards troika," ADEDY added.

"Hands off ERT, stop the closure," chanted the crowd, as ERT employees, joined by other civil servants, private sector workers, pensioners and students, vowed to continue the "struggle against austerity which strangles Greek society."

Personnel of state services, such as tax offices and schools, walked off the job, hospitals operated on emergency staff and public transport was disrupted, including flights and ferry links.

Amidst a news blackout, as Greek Press unions have launched rolling strikes in local print and electronic media, ERT's journalists who have occupied the building continue programming via Internet with the support of local private media and the European Broadcasting Union, which represents state TV stations across Europe.

ERT's signal was cut off on Tuesday midnight after a sudden announcement that a new broadcaster will be established to take over by September with fewer staff, as part of cost-cutting and reform policies.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stands firm on his decision to close a "symbol of waste and lack of transparency in order to protect the public interests," as he has repeated several times over the past few days, despite strong reactions, including from the two centre-Left partners in his conservative-led coalition government.

His junior partners submitted a draft law to parliament to reverse the shutdown, as well as the closure of public organizations by ministerial decrees without ratification from the parliament, as it happened in ERT's case.

As a meeting of the three coalition partners is scheduled for Monday, the Euro Working Group of eurozone finance ministry officials is expected to clear on Thursday the release of the next bailout loan tranche to Athens, despite the turmoil.

The decision for ERT's closure was made in the framework of policies designed to meet bailout commitments and secure further crucial loans from international creditors to overcome the debt crisis.

Greece's government has pledged to overhaul public services and cut some 4,000 jobs in the public sector this year in the context of efforts to reduce deficits and boost growth.

Trade unions warn that they will continue mobilizations to block the implementation of further cuts on salaries, pensions, tax hikes and layoffs, pointing to the dramatic rise in unemployment rates and recession.