Government workers walked off their jobs in Greece Wednesday for a 24-hour strike to protest austerity measures designed to help the government obtain more bailout loans.

The strike closed schools and other government services, and airlines cancelled flights when air traffic controllers joined the work stoppage.

A Greek terrorist trial has been postponed until October 24 because of the strike by civil servants.

Protestors blocked the entrance to several government buildings Tuesday, including the Greek finance and labor ministries.

Demonstrators said they did not want to lose their jobs or have their pay reduced as a part of expanding austerity measures meant to appease international lenders during the country’s economic crisis.

The EU and the International Monetary Fund are trying to decide whether to release the next installment of funds in last year’s bailout. Before releasing funds the international community is looking for signs of significant reductions by the Greek government.

Greece announced Sunday that it will miss its government deficit reduction goals by nearly one percentage point.