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Protesting civil servants hold banners during a rally in central Syntagma Square outside the Greek Parliament yesterday. Petros Giannakouris/AP/PA Images

Greece readies itself for another general strike

Unions have called for a one-day national mobilisation against the axing re-deployment of thousands of civil servants.

GREECE ON TUESDAY braced for a fourth general strike of the year against fresh austerity measures the government is imposing in order to keep receiving EU-IMF loans.

Unions have called for a one-day national mobilisation against a new bill that implements fresh reforms, including the re-deployment of thousands of civil servants, who have been hit by sweeping pay and pension cuts over the past three years.

The bill is needed in order for Greece to start receiving €6.8 billion euros of fresh aid that eurozone finance ministers agreed to release at a meeting last week.

The strike will shut down public services, slow down hospitals, block the national rail service and disrupt over a dozen domestic flights.

Protests will be held in Athens and Thessaloniki later in the day.

(Source: Petros Giannakouris/AP/PA Images)

If the bill passes as expected on Wednesday, 4,200 civil servants — teachers, school wardens and municipal police who are to be integrated into the national force — will be placed under so-called redeployment.

They will receive 75 per cent of their salary for an eight-month period, at the end of which, if they have not accepted a transfer to some other administrative department, they risk losing their jobs.

Under the terms of its latest EU-IMF bailout deal agreed in 2012, Greece is expected to axe 4,000 state jobs and redeploy 25,000 civil servants overall by the end of the year.

The debt-wracked country has had to enact a string of austerity measures over the past four years in return for multi-billion euro international bailouts to avoid default.

The measures — which include reforms to the bloated civil service — are deeply unpopular in the country that recently entered a sixth straight year of recession and where unemployment has climbed to 27 percent, a level unseen in Greece’s modern history. Among the youth, unemployment stands at 64 per cent.

© – AFP

Read: Greece to receive €6.8 billion rescue fund >

Read: Greek court overturns closure of state broadcaster‎ >

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    Mute bacoxy
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:11 AM

    They’ve introduced a “two step” plan to stop it.

    160
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    Mute TommyJung
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:19 AM

    ♬♬ Badum-tish! ♬♬

    45
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    Mute bacoxy
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:09 AM

    Something has to done before there’s murder on the dancefloor, but they better not kill the groove!

    130
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    Mute Larry K
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:06 AM

    what next a tax on smiles? If they’re happy enough to dance around the square they should be celebrated

    107
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    Mute fiachra29
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:13 AM

    From reading the article it seems the loud music bothering people is more the issue rather that the actual dancing.

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    Mute Seán O'Ceallaghan
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:17 AM

    Does it actually have anything to do with middle aged women? Sounds more like a noise pollution law.

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    Mute Anne Marie Devlin
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:31 AM

    Exactly. It’s local authorities responding to a large number of complaints made by local residents about loud music.

    50
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    Mute Chris
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:55 AM

    Stop giving Kenny ideas

    30
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    Mute Mary Lyons
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    Sep 19th 2015, 11:28 AM

    They should withhold sex!

    10
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    Mute Rod_TenⒸ
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:07 AM

    That’s a huge problem alright, fight the good fight China

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    Mute Cormac Gibney
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    Sep 19th 2015, 11:27 AM

    We could do with more social interaction for older people here, something we should learn from the Chinese

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    Mute Robert Cousins
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:27 AM

    Mao God….what next?

    26
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    Mute davidMbyrne.com
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    Sep 19th 2015, 1:06 PM

    This is a huge part of Chinese society and has been forever; go to any square in any Chinese City first thing and you’ll see this (and oldies playing badminton). Seems like the ‘New’ China has less tolerance for the old.

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    Mute Caroline Mangan-Reid
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    Sep 19th 2015, 10:51 AM

    This is an invitation, across the nation,
    A chance for folks to meet.
    There’ll be laughin’ singin’, and music swingin’ to discuss this dancing in the street business

    22
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    Mute Fenster
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    Sep 19th 2015, 7:15 PM

    One of the loveliest things you can encounter, just strolling around Beijing in the evening and you come across 50 couples ballroom dancing in the v middle of the street

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    Mute Carmo Vanderval
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    Sep 19th 2015, 1:43 PM

    Gangs of dancing middle aged women: Second world problems.

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    Mute Constance Ní Ghairbh
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    Sep 19th 2015, 4:09 PM

    Beyonce knows us girls will rule the world some day and that includes you China. #chinadoll

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    Mute Saul Goodman
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    Sep 19th 2015, 11:52 AM

    The Chinese…

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    Mute Peter O'Reilly
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    Sep 19th 2015, 2:46 PM

    Surely it’s still allowed at Crossroads

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    Mute Niall Conneely
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    Oct 9th 2015, 12:05 PM

    Sounds like the ‘comments’ were Gov trolls

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