Bank workers will not budge
Bank workers, who will complete a four-day strike today, said yesterday they will hold a new strike next Thursday, as they bare their teeth at the government in the face of pressure to accept its pension proposals. Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis set today as a deadline for banks and unions to approve his proposal for the creation of a single auxiliary pension fund for bank employees. He warned that if the two sides could not agree, the government would force the deal through. There has been no agreement so far. Unionists oppose the proposal and the president of the Federation of Bank Employees’ Unions (OTOE), Dimitris Tsoukalas, said yesterday that his union would not take «a single step back.» He said that the strike might be extended to Friday and warned the government that it would come up against a constitutional and legislative brick wall if it acted alone.
