protest rallies

Greek Unions Walk Out in Austerity Protest

The 24-hour strike was called by the country’s two main labor unions, which represent about 2.5 million workers and have led public resistance to three years of austerity measures that have raised taxes and cut salaries and pensions. The unions called on Greeks to join them in protest rallies in Athens and other cities on Wednesday to oppose “dead-end policies that have squeezed the life out of workers and impoverished citizens,” slashing average incomes by a third and pushing unemployment to 27 percent.

Transport employees were to run a limited service to allow Greeks to join protest rallies. In Athens, the police were out in force to guard against violence that frequently accompanies demonstrations near Parliament.

Ferries remained moored in ports, trains stayed in depots and air travel was disrupted. Tax offices and courts also closed.

The action came just days before representatives of Greece’s international creditors — the so-called troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — were to return to Athens to assess the country’s progress in carrying out reforms. After a revenue shortfall of 7 percent last month, the shaky coalition government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will have to convince foreign auditors that it can bolster tax collection and impose state sell-offs vehemently opposed by trade unions.

The government has taken a tough line in recent weeks, using emergency laws twice to force Athens metro workers and seamen back to work after protracted strike action. It has resisted demands from farmers who have been blocking roads in a bid to obtain tax breaks.

But authorities have yet to proceed with layoffs in the civil service that the troika has been demanding for two years. This week, the authorities announced that nearly 2,000 public workers facing possible dismissal would be transferred to other parts of the civil service where a wave of early retirements has left vacancies.

Recently, troika officials indicated that a failure by Greece to meet revenue targets through improved tax collection and lower public spending could require another round of cuts to salaries and pensions, a prospect the government has ruled out, warning of a social explosion.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/world/europe/greek-unions-walk-out-in-austerity-protest.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Greek Workers Walk Out for 7th Time to Protest Cuts

The strike came two days after Greece’s new three-party coalition government secured European Union approval for a crucial sixth installment of bailout aid, without which the country would have faced default. Euro zone finance ministers decided to release $7.7 billion that their countries are contributing to the $10.6 billion installment. The International Monetary Fund is due in the coming days to decide on the disbursement of the remaining amount.

The latest strike was less disruptive than previous walkouts, with the police putting the crowd numbers in Athens at about 17,000, compared with 50,000 in a walkout in October, with little violence. The only moment of tension occurred when a few dozen youths clashed with riot police officers in the central Athens district of Exarchia. There were no reports of injuries. Flights operated largely as scheduled and public transportation ran a limited service to enable workers to attend protest rallies. National rail service, however, was halted, and ferries were moored in their ports. Tax offices, courts and schools closed, hospitals were operating with only emergency staff and customs officials walked off the job.

The action was called by the country’s two main labor unions, which represent about 2.5 million workers. They are demanding that austerity measures which were voted through Parliament under the previous Socialist government — including tax increases, wage cuts and public sector layoffs — be revoked. The powerful civil servants’ union, which claims the measures have pushed ordinary Greeks to their limits, has been particularly active in opposing austerity, organizing regular protests and blockades of government buildings.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, emphasized in a letter to the country’s international creditors that his government would stick to the terms of a European Union debt deal for Greece, negotiated in Brussels in October, and suggested that the Greek public would endure the continued austerity needed to secure the country’s position in the euro zone.

“The Greek people recognize the need for a major economic and institutional transformation, and they overwhelmingly support euro area membership, which they perceive as crucial for the success of this effort,” Mr. Papademos said in the letter sent to the lenders late on Tuesday and distributed to the news media on Wednesday.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/world/europe/greek-workers-walk-out-in-protest-for-7th-time.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Greek Unions Walk Out in Austerity Protest

Greek Workers Walk Out for 7th Time to Protest Cuts

Recent News

Partners