Greece to cut 15,000 public jobs ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Greek politicians said they agreed to cut 15,000 government jobs in 2012, bringing them a step closer to qualifying for a $170 billion aid package. The European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so-called troika, has ordered Greece to pass an austerity budget to receive the next disbursement of international aid that would allow it to meet its debt obligations in March. Investors have been fearing Greece would go into default, which might create such a hardship on banks that other nations, such as Italy and Spain, would fall into default as well. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos had set Monday as the deadline for the leaders of Greece's national unity government to accept the troika's demands for immediate, deep spending cuts and labor reforms, state broadcaster ERT reported Sunday night. On Sunday, Papademos and Antonis Samaras, of the New Democracy Party and George Karatzaferis of the People's Party, ended a five-hour session without any agreement on budget cuts that financial leaders have mandated, the Financial Times reported. Papademos had said he would seek an agreement on austerity budgeting in principal, if not in detail. Firing public sector workers in Greece is illegal, to the government will have to use attrition to subtract 15,000 jobs, the Times said. In response, unions in Greece have scheduled a 24-hour general strike for Tuesday to protest job and wage reductions. Papademos also came up short in a meeting with financial leaders from the troika which refused to yield on its demands that Athen find $3.9 billion in spending cuts this year. Greece, meanwhile, could be said to be dancing as fast as it can, but staying in one place. Greece's debt jumped to 159.1 percent of its gross domestic product in the third quarter last year from 138.8 percent in the third quarter of 2010, The New York Times reported. Greece's economy is in its fifth year of recession. Some analysts fear repeated austerity measures are making it all the harder for the Greek economy to find a spark and return to growth.