NEWS

Strike action set to peak today

The latest wave of strike action against the government’s austerity measures is set to peak today as civil servants join a 24-hour strike called by their union ADEDY with thousands expected to take to the streets. Once again government services, tax offices and schools will remain closed. Hospitals will be operating on emergency staff for a second day as doctors join the action. There are no anticipated disruptions to public transport services. But motorists are advised to steer clear of central Athens due to two scheduled protest rallies – by ADEDY at 11 a.m. in Klafthmonos Square and another being organized by the Communist-affiliated labor union PAME at noon in Syntagma Square. Hundreds of PAME members yesterday launched the union’s 48-hour strike with a demonstration at the port of Piraeus, preventing passenger ferries destined for the Cycladic Islands from setting sail. PAME and ADEDY are both protesting tax reforms voted through Parliament last week and are opposed to imminent pension reforms that will see the average retirement age rise by several years. «It shouldn’t be the workers who pay for the crisis but those who have the money,» ADEDY said in a statement. A chief concern of PAME, and other labor unions, is that the government’s austerity program will lead to job losses. Hotel employees blocked the entrances to three major hotels in central Athens yesterday, calling for job security. Meanwhile in Piraeus, unionists expressed skepticism after Prime Minister George Papandreou announced, following talks with representatives of the tourism sector, that cabotage rules would be lifted. The measures would allow non-EU-flagged vessels to moor at Greek ports, opening up the market to thousands of tourists. Labor unionists said opening up ports to foreign vessels would pose a threat to Greek dock workers’ jobs.

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