A DAY OF national strike action is beginning in Greece today, in protest at the government’s latest plans to slash public spending at the behest of the EU and IMF.
The country’s cabinet yesterday held a six-and-a-half meeting at which it decided it would lay off 30,000 public servants – giving them a year to find alternative work before being sacked – and to incur a tax on pension payments.
The two largest labour unions in the country are today organising a nationwide strike, which has left the country without any public transport as all transit workers begin a 24-hour stoppage.
The Wall Street Journal said the stoppage had left to chronic traffic problems during the morning rush hour in Athens, with tailbacks stretching back for several kilometres as some workers attempted to get to their offices.
Taxi drivers and teachers have also gone on 24-hour work stoppages, while air traffic control will be disrupted for three hours later today when controllers hold a stoppage that will affect all flights to and from the country.
The government’s continued push for further austerity comes on the demands of the EU and IMF, who are refusing to release the next €8bn of bailout loans unless the government can radically cut its public spending.
Inspectors from the international lenders are due back in Athens next week, when a final decision on the release of the funds will be made.
Cuts to the size of the public sector are among the Troika’s chief demands; the Washington Post claims that of the country’s 11 million inhabitants, some 780,000 are employed by the state.
Without that funding, the Greek government will simply run out of cash – forcing it to default on its outstanding loans.
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