Greek Public Transport Workers Go on Strike Against Salary Cuts
Public transport in Athens and train services across Greece are shut down today as state workers protest against cuts in wages and bonuses and the reorganization of state-controlled companies.
The metro, used by 620,000 Athenians daily, along with buses, trolleys and trams, will not operate all day according to a spokesman at the Athens Urban Transport Organization, who declined to be named. Intercity trains were also canceled, according to an e-mailed statement from Hellenic Railways.
The metro system normally operates from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. and is the main link between the city center and Athens International Airport. The strike will not affect operations at the airport or ferry services at the port of Piraeus.
The 24-hour strike takes place a day after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, visited Athens where he addressed Greek lawmakers and met with Prime Minister George Papandreou. European Union Economic and Monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn will arrive in the Greek capital tomorrow.
Strauss-Kahn urged the Greek government to “accelerate” the pace of structural reforms in the public sector and state- controlled enterprises, changes demanded by the IMF and the EU in exchange for a 110 billion-euro ($145 billion) bailout package in May.
The Greek Civil Servants Confederation, or ADEDY, Greece’s largest public-sector union, held a rally in Athens yesterday to coincide with Strauss-Kahn’s visit. Communist trade union PAME also held a protest rally before marching to parliament.
On Dec. 15, ADEDY and the General Confederation of Labor, the country’s largest private-sector union, will hold a 24-hour general strike against additional austerity measures in the 2011 budget. The Greek government cut wages and pensions and increased taxes this year to help reduce a budget deficit of 15.4 percent in 2009.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Stoukas in Athens at astoukas@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net
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