Greek seamen extend anti-austerity strike [Ugg boots]
Greek seamen continued on Monday for a second week an anti-austerity strike which has left ferries tied up in ports across the country, fuelling fears for shortages on groceries and other basic supplies.
The Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) decided to drag on to Wednesday the industrial action which began Thursday in protest of a planned overhaul of coastal shipping regulations.
Dockworkers argue that plans to regulate the minimum number of crew members on vessels through a draft bill will lead to mass layoffs in a sector already suffering from 50 percent unemployment rates.
According to PNO unionists, due to deep recession over the past two years about 7,000 marine workers out of a total 15,000 registered are jobless.
In addition, strikers protesting at Piraeus port, the largest in Greece, demand back pay and new collective employment agreements with ship owners.
Faced with the prospect of a new 48-hour rolling strike starting on Wednesday, the government considers the possibility of issuing a civil mobilization order to force seamen back to work, as they did last month with striking subway employees after a nine-day mobilization, local media reported.
Shop owners in Athens and in particular on islands which have been cut off from the mainland since last week, point to the first shortages on vegetables and basic food products.
In the latest wave of anti-austerity action, meanwhile, thousands Greek farmers continue also for a second week their own mobilization, protesting tax hikes.
Striking farmers have been briefly disrupting traffic on key junctions in national highways in central Greece with their tractors since last Monday, demanding allowances to get through the financial crisis which has hit the country hard since late 2009.
Protesting farmers, dockworkers and other professionals, as well as pensioners who have joined several strikes and rallies during the past three years, demand a rollback of the harsh cutbacks on wages and tax increases to ease the heavy pressure on recession-hit households.
Government officials respond that there is no room for concessions to strikers, since the country is bound by bailout agreements with international creditors which keep it afloat with vital financial aid in return of harsh austerity and reform policies.
The Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) decided to drag on to Wednesday the industrial action which began Thursday in protest of a planned overhaul of coastal shipping regulations.
Dockworkers argue that plans to regulate the minimum number of crew members on vessels through a draft bill will lead to mass layoffs in a sector already suffering from 50 percent unemployment rates.
According to PNO unionists, due to deep recession over the past two years about 7,000 marine workers out of a total 15,000 registered are jobless.
In addition, strikers protesting at Piraeus port, the largest in Greece, demand back pay and new collective employment agreements with ship owners.
Faced with the prospect of a new 48-hour rolling strike starting on Wednesday, the government considers the possibility of issuing a civil mobilization order to force seamen back to work, as they did last month with striking subway employees after a nine-day mobilization, local media reported.
Shop owners in Athens and in particular on islands which have been cut off from the mainland since last week, point to the first shortages on vegetables and basic food products.
In the latest wave of anti-austerity action, meanwhile, thousands Greek farmers continue also for a second week their own mobilization, protesting tax hikes.
Striking farmers have been briefly disrupting traffic on key junctions in national highways in central Greece with their tractors since last Monday, demanding allowances to get through the financial crisis which has hit the country hard since late 2009.
Protesting farmers, dockworkers and other professionals, as well as pensioners who have joined several strikes and rallies during the past three years, demand a rollback of the harsh cutbacks on wages and tax increases to ease the heavy pressure on recession-hit households.
Government officials respond that there is no room for concessions to strikers, since the country is bound by bailout agreements with international creditors which keep it afloat with vital financial aid in return of harsh austerity and reform policies.
2013-02-05 17:37
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