Sep 16, 2013
"No to extended leave, redundancies and mandatory transfers," read a sign outside a high school in Athens. At the heart of the strikes this week is the Greek government's "redeployment plan," in which civil servants will be moved involuntarily into other jobs, face salary cuts, or lose employment altogether--a measure designed to shrink the state sector. More than 40,000 workers will be affected over the next two years.
In exchange for the next installment of EU-IMF so-called rescue loans, Greek leaders will "redeploy" 12,500 civil servants by the end of September.
Thousands of workers, including school guards, teachers and public hospital doctors marched through the streets of Athens to parliament, chanting "Let's kick the government, the EU and the IMF out!" Reuters reports.
Greek police fired teargas to disperse a group of school guards who tried to enter the country's reforms ministry in protest.
"We want our jobs back!," Eleni Stathaki, a 53-year-old former school guard, told Reuters. "They threw us out but want us to keep paying taxes. It's impossible to live like this."
According to Agence France-Press, Greece is expected to temporarily cut the salaries of 25,000 civil servants and completely wipe out 4,000 state jobs by the end of the year.
The strikes are expected to swell in the coming days and will include a general strike called by the public workers union, ADEDY, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Since 2009, the Greek government has cut the state workforce by 22 percent. Unemployment has hit nearly 28 percent and poverty levels have continued to climb steadily.
_______________________
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
"No to extended leave, redundancies and mandatory transfers," read a sign outside a high school in Athens. At the heart of the strikes this week is the Greek government's "redeployment plan," in which civil servants will be moved involuntarily into other jobs, face salary cuts, or lose employment altogether--a measure designed to shrink the state sector. More than 40,000 workers will be affected over the next two years.
In exchange for the next installment of EU-IMF so-called rescue loans, Greek leaders will "redeploy" 12,500 civil servants by the end of September.
Thousands of workers, including school guards, teachers and public hospital doctors marched through the streets of Athens to parliament, chanting "Let's kick the government, the EU and the IMF out!" Reuters reports.
Greek police fired teargas to disperse a group of school guards who tried to enter the country's reforms ministry in protest.
"We want our jobs back!," Eleni Stathaki, a 53-year-old former school guard, told Reuters. "They threw us out but want us to keep paying taxes. It's impossible to live like this."
According to Agence France-Press, Greece is expected to temporarily cut the salaries of 25,000 civil servants and completely wipe out 4,000 state jobs by the end of the year.
The strikes are expected to swell in the coming days and will include a general strike called by the public workers union, ADEDY, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Since 2009, the Greek government has cut the state workforce by 22 percent. Unemployment has hit nearly 28 percent and poverty levels have continued to climb steadily.
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
"No to extended leave, redundancies and mandatory transfers," read a sign outside a high school in Athens. At the heart of the strikes this week is the Greek government's "redeployment plan," in which civil servants will be moved involuntarily into other jobs, face salary cuts, or lose employment altogether--a measure designed to shrink the state sector. More than 40,000 workers will be affected over the next two years.
In exchange for the next installment of EU-IMF so-called rescue loans, Greek leaders will "redeploy" 12,500 civil servants by the end of September.
Thousands of workers, including school guards, teachers and public hospital doctors marched through the streets of Athens to parliament, chanting "Let's kick the government, the EU and the IMF out!" Reuters reports.
Greek police fired teargas to disperse a group of school guards who tried to enter the country's reforms ministry in protest.
"We want our jobs back!," Eleni Stathaki, a 53-year-old former school guard, told Reuters. "They threw us out but want us to keep paying taxes. It's impossible to live like this."
According to Agence France-Press, Greece is expected to temporarily cut the salaries of 25,000 civil servants and completely wipe out 4,000 state jobs by the end of the year.
The strikes are expected to swell in the coming days and will include a general strike called by the public workers union, ADEDY, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Since 2009, the Greek government has cut the state workforce by 22 percent. Unemployment has hit nearly 28 percent and poverty levels have continued to climb steadily.
_______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.