After months of relative calm, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ uneasy coalition government is suddenly under siege for its plan to start firing thousands of public workers on the order of international lenders in return for continued rescue aid.
As municipal police – among the first on the firing line – on July 10 continued a strike into a third day and occupied buildings, including Athens City Hall, labor unions called a 24-hour general strike on July 16, similar to dozens they’ve held before although none have deterred the government from continuing to impose austerity measures.
The unions GSEE and ADEDY, representing both public and private workers, said they would join forces in the strike. Three years of pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions have created a record 27.4 percent unemployment rate and put 1.3 million people out of work – all in the private sector until Samaras on June 11 shut down the national broadcaster ERT and fired all 2,656 workers, including his own political appointments.
ADEDY also called for public employees in the Attica region, which includes the nation’s capital, to stay home from work beginning at noon on July 11, the new agency ANA reported. The union is protesting a government bill on its way to Parliament which could lead to 12,500 workers being dismissed this year.
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