Greece Adopts New Austerity Measures to Placate Creditors

ATHENS, Greece — Greek lawmakers on Monday approved new measures demanded by international creditors, including cuts to benefits for large families and restrictions on trade unions, creating the basis for additional bailout funding.

Addressing Parliament, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who backed the legislation, said the vote would move Greece a step closer to emerging from its third international bailout, which expires in August.

“We are a breath away from the end of the program and the definitive end to the memorandums,” Tsipras said, referring to the three loan agreements Greece has signed with foreign creditors since it neared bankruptcy in 2010.

“This gives hope and courage to millions of our fellow citizens who all these years have made large sacrifices and now finally see light and a way out,” Tsipras said, referring to years of pension cuts and tax increases.

Tsipras’ political rival, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leader of the New Democracy party, accused the government of “lies,” saying the promise for a “clean exit” in August was baseless because foreign supervision of Greece’s financial health would continue.

Before the vote, about 20,000 demonstrators gathered in central Athens, the capital, for a mostly peaceful protest demonstration. The exception was a small group of hooded youths who hurled firebombs at police officers. The police responded by firing tear gas.

There was no public transportation in the capital as workers walked off the job and unionists threatened to call more strikes in the coming weeks. Some public services, including state hospitals and schools, were disrupted as well, as teachers and doctors participated in brief walkouts in solidarity with unions.

The legislation passed with 154 votes in the 300-seat Parliament, overcoming objections by lawmakers reluctant to impose yet more hardship on a nation struggling to return to growth after years of belt-tightening. Support for the legislation also overcame vehement opposition from labor unions, whose members took to the streets of the capital to denounce the government’s “savage austerity.”

Besides the 153 lawmakers who backed the legislation, an independent deputy supported the bill and said she would join Tsipras’ leftist Syriza Party, strengthening his coalition’s slim majority.

Unlike some earlier austerity measures, the latest package does not further cut pensions or raise taxes. But it does reduce benefits to families with more than three children and requires unions to gather more votes from members before they can call strikes.

The new measures also are aimed at eliminating what has become a chaotic arena for anti-austerity protests — property foreclosures at Greek courthouses. Now those proceedings can be conducted online, which avoids the threats and harassment faced by notaries, who had conducted the foreclosures in court.

Greece’s international creditors have demanded more austerity in exchange for at least 5 billion euros in bailout funds, possibly as much as 7 billion euros.

Eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to meet Monday to decide on the disbursement of the money. If satisfied with Greece’s progress, they are also expected to discuss relief for the country’s huge debt burden, which is nearly twice the size of its annual economic output.

A deal to lighten Greece’s debt would be a boon for Tsipras, who has faced scathing criticism for the compromises he has made to creditors since coming to power three years ago on a pledge to reduce austerity.