* Clashes in front of parliament as law being passed
* Flights cancelled, schools closed, tear gas used
* Poll shows opposition to VAT hike, pension freeze
(Adds vote, vox pop, clashes)
By Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou
ATHENS, March 5 (Reuters) - Greek police clashed in front ofparliament with stone-throwing youths protesting againstausterity measures on Friday but lawmakers still passed the billin an emergency vote.
Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of demonstrators whohurled stones, burnt garbage containers and scuffled with otherprotestors. Strikes also shut schools and brought publictransport in Athens to a halt.
Police pushed back protesters from the parliament"s steps,just before lawmakers passed much of a 4.8 billion euro ($6.5billion) package including cuts on public servants" bonuses anda 2 percentage hike of VAT.
About 12,000 demonstrators took to the streets according topolice estimates, most of them peacefully. Shouting "never,never, never," they protested the austerity measures meant totackle Greece"s huge fiscal deficit and 300 billion euro ($408billion) debt pile.
"We are fighting the austerity measures, the cuts insalaries and the new taxes," said 21-year old student ChristinaVasilopoulou, marching to parliament. "With these measures onlya small percentage of the debt will be cut and the poor willsuffer more."
The only buses on the streets of Athens on Friday belongedto the riot police. At the airport more than 60 flights werecancelled as unions called impromptu work stoppages.
An opinion poll showed strong opposition to some measuressuch as higher VAT and a freeze on public pensions but supportfor moves to raise tax on alcohol, cigarettes and luxury goods.
GERMAN HELP?
Pagiaslis Giannis, 57, a private sector employee taking partin the march, said that while people wanted to express theiranger they also understood that belt-tightening was necessary."It"s like the slap that a father gives to his child and thechild reacts even though he knows he was in the wrong," he said.
Others disagreed with the protests, saying cutbacks werenecessary to wrench Greece out of its debt crisis.
"We had anarchists (in December 2008) destroying our shopsand now we have the strikes against the measures, our activityis shrinking with all this," said Perickles Mitropoulos, ajewellery shop owner. "The Greek economy is in a criticalsituation and measures are necessary."
Ratings agencies and EU policymakers have said delivery willbe key in determining whether Greece can re-establish itscredibility on the world stage and as a borrower.
The latest protests took place as Greek Prime MinisterGeorge Papandreou travelled to Germany for a meeting withChancellor Angela Merkel in the hope of persuading her to backmore concrete EU support measures for Greece.
Greek customers at a German restaurant in Athens said Berlinhad a moral obligation to help.
"We helped rebuild Germany after the war by sending men towork there," said 35-year old dentist Georgios Giakmis. "We buytheir guns and cars, that"s why Germans are rich."
The owner of the Beer Garden Ritterburg, Argirios Chachlaswho had lived in Germany for 25 years, said being part of the EUobliged countries like Germany to give Greece support, even ifonly political.
"We work more than 14 hours a day and make less than they doin Germany, we are working, we don"t spend our time sitting incafes drinking ouzo," said Chachlas, 50.
The cutbacks and tax hikes were passed easily in parliamentwhere the government holds a comfortable majority, but someexpressed discontent even among the ruling PASOK party, feelinguncomfortable after the socialist government was elected inOctober on a tax-and-spend program.
The main public sector union ADEDY brought forward a plannednational strike to March 11 from March 16 and its sister privatesector union GSEE said it would join them. The two unionsrepresent half Greece"s 5-million workforce.
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