Greeks have been at the mercy of the demands and whims of unions at state-owned enterprises for decades. Every effort ever made to privatize these companies, either in part or in full, has met with a wall of reaction from the groups representing the workers.

For the past week or so, we have seen the same phenomenon repeating itself, spearheaded by the same classic figures of union bosses who have changed nothing but their political affiliations. Calls for war against the state and other forms of grandstanding lead to nothing except chaos, the paralysis of the economy and the collapse of the country.

The main opposition SYRIZA party and other political forces that support the recalcitrant behavior of the unions that control public transport should think long and hard about their actions and stance, and consider the consequences that a lengthy and uncontrollable period of tension and instability may have on the country as a whole.

The path chosen by the transport workers’ unions will lead nowhere, however justifiable the anger of employees who are seeing their incomes slashed even further.