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Wed, Feb 08 2012
Greece prepares for another major strike on March 23
Photo: Giorgos Karahalis
Greece is bracing itself for another major strike, organised by public sector unions. Like the previous 24-hour general strikes, the latest is in protest at the government's austerity measures designed to combat the public deficit.
Although a major strike, it will not be on the same scale as previous ones that effectively paralysed the entire country.
According to the Bulgarian national television (BNT), all railway services will be halted, including surface trains in Athens, but excluding the metro, for an unspecified period.
Behind the protests are now familiar concerns that the Greek government is raising taxes, while reducing wages, slashing pensions and cutting the 14th salary in a bid to curtail public spending and tighten its citizens' belts after decades of overspending.
Greek national television reports that this week will be vital for the Greek economy when set against the backdrop of fevered European Union talks on an aid package to Greece following the March 18 EU Summit. At the summit in question German representatives adopted a harsh stance while European Commission president Manuel Barosso was lobbying in favour of a general bailout.
On March 21, Greek prime minister George Papandreou and German chancellor Angela Merkel held further telephone discussions regarding Greece's fiscal problems and its impact on the eurozone.
Additional pressure is likely to mount at an off the agenda Greek parliament debate on the stability plan held by political leaders. And in spite of the fact that Greece seems to be riven by huge debts, and is even considering an IMF bailout, Greek authorities continue to say that the country "has not asked for financial aid".
Greek debt is reported to be about 13 per cent of GDP
Although a major strike, it will not be on the same scale as previous ones that effectively paralysed the entire country.
According to the Bulgarian national television (BNT), all railway services will be halted, including surface trains in Athens, but excluding the metro, for an unspecified period.
Behind the protests are now familiar concerns that the Greek government is raising taxes, while reducing wages, slashing pensions and cutting the 14th salary in a bid to curtail public spending and tighten its citizens' belts after decades of overspending.
Greek national television reports that this week will be vital for the Greek economy when set against the backdrop of fevered European Union talks on an aid package to Greece following the March 18 EU Summit. At the summit in question German representatives adopted a harsh stance while European Commission president Manuel Barosso was lobbying in favour of a general bailout.
On March 21, Greek prime minister George Papandreou and German chancellor Angela Merkel held further telephone discussions regarding Greece's fiscal problems and its impact on the eurozone.
Additional pressure is likely to mount at an off the agenda Greek parliament debate on the stability plan held by political leaders. And in spite of the fact that Greece seems to be riven by huge debts, and is even considering an IMF bailout, Greek authorities continue to say that the country "has not asked for financial aid".
Greek debt is reported to be about 13 per cent of GDP
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Maybe I was being a bit unkind - I should have said "Ottoman Survival Habits" instead (the same logical point would have applied, however.)
Trouble is, that today's EU is NOT the Ottoman Empire, and Greece really has to change its ingrained habits of tax evasion, nepotism , political dynasties (such as Papandreou, and he's not the only one), and go back to the pure "demokratia" which was invented by another people in ancient times in a country with some similar land boundaries.
What's the Greek for "O tempora, o mores" ? [...]
Read the full comment Possibly the ancient Greek and modern Greek words are just a bit different....
The last time (prior to 1982) that Greece was part of a wider economic entity like the EU was up until 1832, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire.
The trouble is that it has retained many unwelcome Ottoman habits from 1832 and brought them into the EU a century-and-a-half later.
Other EU member-states did not bring with them quite so much oriental Ottoman baggage (such as tax-avoidance, baksheesh, political clans, nepotism etc.)
All of which is only too evident today, alas...
No my Brit
I mean you down the gutter.
Ah Aries - you mean expel Greece from the EuroZone ? Sehr Gut.
When you finish
don't forget
Flush the toilet
mit vielen Gruessen
Sorry - I read through the German item a bit quickly / zu viel schnell.
The Germans also want to buy the Acropolis in Athens too, and to ship it to Berlin, where there is a "museum island" already in the River Spree ready to receive it.
This puts the Germans in competition with the British, who already have a site mapped out for the Acropolis as part of the 2010 London Olympics constructions.
Oh dear, who will win / qui gagnera ?
Aries - don't understand your last reference: it's not standard English. Meanwhile, from the horse's mouth, here's the Bild Zeitung item about Germans queuing to buy Corfu (sorry, for this you will have to grit your teeth and just understand a little bit of Deutsch / Niemecki):
http://www.bild.de/BILD/politik/wirtschaft/2010/03
Mit freundlichen Gruessen
Yeah Yeah the usuual! carry on pal
carry on!!!!
Mind you bite your tongue and die
cheers !!!
Nonsense - the German way with unions is best, given the propensity of Greek trade unions to strike at the least provocation.
Currently, it seems that 50% of the German population wants to impose draconian terms on Greece, 50% wants to eject Greece from the Eurozone altogther, and 100% want to permanently buy Korfu/Kerkyra and some other Greek islands as part of the deal (source: BBC radio news this morning.)
Hence Chancellor Merkel's current difficulties at the EuroSummit.
Gottes Deutsches Zeit ist der allerbeste Zeit - fuer all [...]
Read the full comment Griechenland zu kaufen.
Epamino
My good man it is in the realm of democracy to strike when one feels his rights are not properly taken care of.
That what unions are for.
Cheers!
Aries - no, not very, you sound rather like GMS in disguise.
Rather than arguing about the gender of the phenomenon (typical Athens politics !), it might be better to actually do something about it, other than going on strike for the Nth time.
When are they going to stop striking in Greece every time they do not like something and then they will start to complain why no one will come in to Greece in summer or have any jobs for the summer?? Greece is in bad shape and the people need to change the way they do business.
How are new businesses going to open up in Greece with the image that these people are portraying???
Unfortunately $300 billion does not accumulate after 6-8 years of one political party being in power???
Epamino
Le mot n'est pas la deluge mais le deluge c'est un nom de genre masculin.
hope this is helpfull.
Apres moi, la deluge....