Municipal employees start action at town halls and landfills

Municipal employees will stage sit-ins on Thursday at public buildings, municipal parking lots, landfills and town halls around the country to protest the government’s planned pension reforms.

According to POE-OTA, the union representing municipal employees, the pension reform bill that Labor Minister Giorgos Katrougalos plans to submit to Parliament will inexorably lead to the demise of the country’s social security system and cuts to main and auxiliary pensions.

“These measures will further the economic impoverishment of Greek society and inevitably lead to a new tax burden of 5.4 billion euros, a drop in consumption, more companies going out of business, more unemployment, poverty and impoverishment,” the union said, adding that it plans to join a 48-hour strike public sector union ADEDY has said it will call when the pension bill is debated in Parliament.