Unions launch wave of strikes

Moreover, ADEDY is examining the possibility of bringing forward a 24-hour strike it originally called for March 16 to sometime between 8 and 12 March, an announcement said.
ADEDY's announcement said that "despite the trade union movement's reaction, the government has tabled a bill, to be voted in parliament under urgent procedures, on the unfair, antisocial and antidevelopment measures".
It charged that the government's measures include a sharp decline in civil servants' incomes, upset the social security system and increase retirement ages, place a freeze on public sector hiring, privatisation of state property, new tax burdens, a freeze on and reduction in pensions, cutbacks in the public investments program, and abolition of the collective labour agreements in the public utilities and state organisations (DEKO).
A GSEE announcement underlined that "the workers are intensely and radically opposed to the unfair, one-sided economic measures that greatly burden workers, pensioners and the unemployed while leaving business owners, the rich and the powerful untouched."
The union also warned that the problems of the real economy will be greatly increased with a descent into recession and a massive rise in unemployment pending.
In addition to the strike, GSEE called on workers to gather in Syntagma Square at 13:00 for a protest rally and said that it promised to cover all union federations and labour centres able to call a 24-hour strike. In the coming days, GSEE's leadership will decide on a further escalation of strike action.
Major public transport strike in Athens
Public transport employees in Athens will hold a 24-hour strike on Friday, in protest against the harsh economic austerity measures announced by the government.
The strike will bring to a halt all forms of public transport in Athens, while Hellenic Railways (OSE) has also announced that it will cancel all its services. The technical staff of the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) will participate in the strike action as well.
Public transport buses will also stop running in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki between 12:00 and 16:00 on Friday, due to a work stoppage called by the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation's union.
Meanwhile, the air traffic controllers will participate in the work stoppage called by the civil servants' union ADEDY from 12 at noon until 4 pm on Friday. No flights from and to Greek airports will be held during that time.
The public transport sector trade unions have stated that more mobilizations are likely, stressing that the government measures will lead to the abolition of collective labour agreements for at least three years and to dramatic wage cuts.
Media strike, 24-hours in state sector
The Athens Union of Journalists (ESIEA) has called a 24-hour strike beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, March 5 until 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 6 in the Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA), the state-run ERT radio and television, the Secretariat General of Communication - Secretariat General of Information, the Parliament Channel and municipal radio and television stations.
The strike is called to demand that "the collective labour agreements be respected and the announced 7 pct cut in monthly salaries be withdrawn immediately."
A two-hour work stoppage between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. will be held on Friday in all mass media.
A statement issued by ESIEA underlined that "the measures announced by the government on Wednesday constitute a severe blow to fundamental labour rights and conquests and should be withdrawn immediately."
The striking journalists will participate in the trade union demonstration to be held outside Parliament during the debate on the government-sponsored draft law.
ESIEA called on the media personnel to mobilize against the unfair and anti-social tax measures, the abolition of labour and social rights, the salary and pension cuts and the suspension of collective labour agreements.
In a show of protest to the government measures, the board of ESIEA has cancelled a meeting planned for Thursday with Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos.

Riot police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse rioters who chased the ceremonial guards in 19th-century kilts and tasseled garters away from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the parliament, while a top trade union leader was roughed up by left-wing protesters.
It was the biggest outburst of violence since Greece's debt crisis escalated late last year. Police say they arrested 5 people, and seven officers were injured.
Up to 7,000 demonstrators gathered outside as lawmakers debated the austerity package, which aims to save €4.8 billion ($6.5 billion) with measures including higher consumer taxes and cuts to public sector workers' pay of up to 8 percent.
Papandreou met in Luxembourg with Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the group of eurozone finance ministers. Later Friday, he will hold talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Demonstrators attacked the two military guards and their escorting officers, smashing windows and kicking the guard posts. Earlier, leftwing protesters attacked the head of Greece's largest trade union who was addressing the crowd.
GSEE head Yiannis Panagopoulos traded blows with his assailants before being whisked away bloodied and with torn clothes.
GSEE and the ADEDY umbrella civil servant union held work stoppages to protest the austerity measures, while hospitals, schools and public transport were closed down.
Further violence broke out later Friday in Athens, with masked youths attacking riot police inside the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, and trying to break into the Labor Ministry. Rioters also smashed the glass fronts of two banks, two hotels, a mobile phone shop and a fast food restaurant.



An earlier protest ended peacefully, while there were smaller clashes during two protests in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city.


The center-left government says it is seeking a total €16 billion ($21.87 billion) in savings this year, to reduce a bloated budget deficit of some €30 billion that is over four times the EU limit as a percentage of annual output.


The cuts are key in convincing bond markets to loan the country money and to win support from the European Union.


Merkel and Germany, as the biggest of the 16 countries that use the euro, would play a key role in any financial lifeline the EU plans to offer Greece. But the German government has said that Friday's meeting is not about giving aid and the EU's promise of support, first issued last month, remains vague.


Despite raising €5 billion ($6.83 billion) from a successful 10-year bond issue Thursday, Athens remains under intense pressure from high borrowing rates. Papandreou has ruffled Europe's feathers by warning that Greece could request financial help from the International Monetary Fund unless the EU details potential emergency support.


Jean-Claude Juncker said after meeting Papandreou that "we have to deal with the problem as a euro area."


He said it was acceptable for the IMF to offer technical assistance. But he insisted: "as the chairman of the euro group I'd like to exclude any further involvement of the IMF."


Papandreou insists Greece is not seeking bailout money from the European Union but a public commitment to a financial rescue plan that would reassure markets.


Asked what he wants from Merkel, Papandreou said in an interview published Friday in Germany's daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Greece needed "support ... that there is European support so that we can borrow money under reasonable conditions."


He said that Greece has never asked for a bailout, but lack of support would hurt his reform plans.


"And that would, one way or another, be expensive for all of Europe," Papandreou said. "If the euro retreated, that might help some countries with their exports, but it would for example make importing oil and gas more expensive."
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Merkel said Friday she expects "interesting" and friendly talks with Papandreou, adding that Greece's successful bond issue "gives us optimism" that things will go well in the months ahead.


At a televised news conference in Munich, Merkel said the sale showed that the new austerity measures announced this had the desired effect.


Papandreou will also discuss the debt crisis with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris Sunday, and meet U.S. President Barack Obama on March 9 in Washington.


French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Friday that Sarkozy would back Greece if its debt woes got it into real trouble.


While she told LCI television that Sunday's meeting would focus on how the Greek government's new austerity plans will be enacted, she also said she expects Sarkozy will tell Papandreou that France would be there if Greece got into real difficulties. She did not explain what form that support would take.


Friday's strike saw state schools closed, while hospitals functioned with emergency staff and all Athens public transport was idle. An air traffic controllers work stoppage from 1000GMT to 1400GMT canceled dozens of flights, while journalists also walked off the job for a few hours.


Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said the belt-tightening would work — if unswervingly enforced.


"In emergencies, governments take emergency measures," he told lawmakers during the austerity law debate. "Will we succeed? Yes, we will. Will we have to take further measures? No, provided we implement the program we have submitted. And we will."