Strike action intensifies
The country’s largest union group, GSEE, decided yesterday to increase protest action against the government’s tight spending policy by calling a new 24-hour strike while street cleaners will stay away from the job again today, for the eighth straight day. GSEE, the General Confederation of Greek Labor, said that it will call a 24-hour strike for employees at banks and public utilities on May 4 to protest government reforms of labor relations and plans to keep 2006 pay hikes around inflation levels. «We condemn continued attempts of slander against workers and public utility union groups, which attempt to shift the inefficiencies and deficits of these businesses,» GSEE said in a statement. The government plans to award employees hired at loss-making public utilities a maximum pay hike of 3 percent. The tight incomes policy is among the state’s measures to improve the financial health of public utilities, many of which rely on funding from the budget to survive. Ties with union groups remain fragile as the government has been pushing through broader labor reforms during its two years in office. GSEE’s latest strike action is also in support of bank workers after employers in the sector recently refused to negotiate pay increases on a group level. Unions blame the Finance and Labor ministries for quietly supporting the move to abolish collective wage agreements. On Friday, workers at the Public Power Corporation (PPC) will also walk off the job over a pay dispute and are expected to decide on a new 48-hour strike soon. Meanwhile, municipal workers yesterday decided to extend their walkout until today as they continue to push for higher benefits. However, several rubbish trucks showed up in parts of the city yesterday to clean up some of the piles of rotting trash that have covered some roads and many footpaths. According to some estimates, more than 35,000 tons of rubbish have piled up on Athens streets.
