The scene looks set for a long, hot summer, with a new wave of strikes ushering in the second half of June. This includes a 24-hour nationwide strike on June 29 called by the country's two largest union organisations - GSEE and ADEDY - against planned changes to pension and labour law and an ongoing strike by teachers marking the nationwide university entrance exams. After a brief hiatus over the weekend, meanwhile, workers on the Athens metro will resume rolling work stoppages from Monday to protest against the management's refusal to renew the contracts of 286 workers hired before the elections. According to the Public Administration Inspector, their contracts were illegal because they were hired during the pre-election period. Metro workers are additionally demanding that they be exempted from the general public sector pay cuts imposed by the government.*MONDAY'S METRO STRIKE HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO A LATER DATE
The strike by examination markers will continue until next Tuesday, based on a decision by the board of the highschool teachers' union OLME. This strike is also held over cuts in pay. The strike has delayed the announcement of results in university entrance examinations, with Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou reporting that one quarter of papers in Attica remained to be marked.
In a decision on Friday, meanwhile, the plenum of bar association presidents announced that lawyers will abstain from court appearances and other duties from June 23 until July 7.
19.06.2010
