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.

"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. 

Boats from the mainland to the Aegean and Ionian islands were also hit by the strike as members of the PNO sailors' union joined the action.

Staff at bus, metro and train services, schools, courts and hospitals joined the strike.

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.

Inflation hit 2.4 per cent year on year in October, the statistics office Elstat reported. 

On Tuesday, the Greek journalists union carried out their own 24-hour strike, calling for new collective agreements.

The last one dates back to 2008, before Greece's devastating financial crisis.

The unions, which have called several strikes since the beginning of the year, denounce the policies of the current conservative government, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, re-elected last year for a fresh, four-year mandate.

Mitsotakis recently announced plans to boost people's purchasing power with an increase in the minimum wage, currently 830 euros, and pensions from January 2025.