Greek workers, civil servants strike over bond scandal

ATHENS, May 15 (Reuters) Flights at Athens airport were delayed and the capital's public transport ground to a halt as Greek labour unions and civil servants stopped work on Wednesday demanding protection of their pension funds.

A public prosecutor is investigating whether a state pension fund bought an overpriced bond from a Greek brokerage in an affair that has already led to the sacking of a minister and hurt the government's popularity in an election year.

Government services and schools were closed while hospitals operated on skeleton staff. The country's media outlets have also ceased news broadcasts for 24 hours as part of the strike.

''Return the money to our funds. Those responsible must pay,'' the Greek umbrella union GSEE said in a statement. ''The long-term pillaging of our assets and our rights must stop.'' Flights to and from Athens are affected as air traffic controllers stopped work for 4 hours from midday, while state carrier Olympic Air has already announced that 62 domestic and international flights will be cancelled.

Unions plan a rally and march in central Athens later in the day.

A Greek prosecutor is investigating whether the civil servants' auxilliary pension fund was overcharged for a structured government bond and is expected to issue his findings later this month.

The affair has dominated media headlines for months, leading to the resignation of the government-appointed pension fund head and a review of how fund boards are appointed.

The 280 million euro government bond, issued on Feb 22, 2007 with an initial coupon of 6.25 percent and maturing in 2019, changed hands several times before ending up with the civil service's supplementary pension fund.

REUTERS RJ HT1447