Teachers call for union support after government bans strike during exams
Secondary school teachers on Sunday called on Greece’s main labor unions, GSEE and ADEDY, to support their cause after the government issued a civil mobilization order to prevent educators striking during university entrance exams.
OLME, the teachers’ union, slammed the government’s decision on Saturday to force educators to attend work.
It called on members to gather in Syntagma Square on Monday evening to voice their objection and asked ADED and GSEE to call a general strike on Friday in solidarity with the teachers.
The educators had been planning to launch their strike on Friday, the first day senior high school students are due to sit their university entrance exams.
OLME was also planning a five-day strike for next week but the government says that it is justified in overriding the union’s plans because of the disruptive impact the action will have on pupils.
OLME said it would launch legal action against the government.
The head of secondary school teachers’ union, Nikos Papachristos, was ousted from New Democracy over the weekend. He was a member of the ND-affiliated labor union, DAKE.
ND secretary Manolis Kefaloyiannis said Papachristos was pushed out of the part because OLME’s actions were against the interest of society.
