Greece truckers continue strike, defy government

ATHENS, July 30 (Reuters) - Striking Greek truck drivers shrugged off a government order to get back to work, unionists said on Friday, escalating the standoff over a key reform to liberalise the debt-laden country's economy.

"We continue the strike," truckers' union leader George Tzortzatos told reporters.

Truckers walked off the job on Monday to protest a bill to open up their profession, a reform required by the EU and the IMF in a exchange for a multi-billion euro bailout that saved Greece from defaulting on its debt earlier this year.

The government ordered the strikers on Wednesday to get back behind the wheel, threatening to strip them of their license and prosecute them if they did not abide within 24 hours. (Reporting by Ingrid Melander)