Pharmacies to strike over debt dispute
Pharmacies in Athens and Piraeus will be closed on Wednesday due to a dispute over the public sector?s unpaid bills that could lead to pharmacists refusing to issue prescription medicines to customers unless they pay in cash.
The head of the Attica Pharmaceutical Association, Costas Lourantos, told Skai TV that as things stand, pharmacies would stop supplying customers with drugs on credit in January as they have given up hope of collecting the millions they are owed by social security funds.
Lourantos accused the government of doing its best to settle its debts with pharmaceutical companies but not taking any steps to ensure that social insurance funds could pay for their members? prescriptions.
Civil engineers are due to join the strike action on Wednesday. They are protesting the rise in their social security contributions and doubts about the future of their pension funds.
On Thursday, health center and ambulance workers are due to hold a four-hour stoppage from 11 a.m.
