Today sees the second day of a strike by Greek public service workers against collective dismissals.
The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) — of which the FBU is an affiliate — has sent a message of solidarity, saying: “The strike of our Greek colleagues is symbolic of the ongoing resistance of workers and citizens against the EU’s austerity policies.”
A demonstration is also taking place in Klathmonos Square in Athens.
EPSU says that an administrative reform bill currently going through the Hellenic (Greek) parliament would mean the closure or privatisation of 23 public bodies and the dismissal of thousands of public sector workers, many of whom have already been suspended from their jobs for several months.
The federation also says that the reforms are being imposed by their government under pressure of ‘the Troika’: the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, who formed a group of international lenders who insisted on strict ‘austerity’ reforms before providing ‘bailouts’ to countries that became badly indebted during the financial crisis.
The Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY) in Greece says the government is introducing the measures without consulting the trade unions, and the legislation would also introduce a system of personnel appraisal that would set quotas for grading staff as “excellent”, “good” or “poor”, leaving those at the bottom vulnerable to dismissal.
Financial analysts Bloomberg said that the economy of Greece shrank 3.7% in 2013, and the Greek unemployment rate of 27.5% is the highest in Europe (youth unemployment is 59%).
EPSU says that over 100,000 (12%) of public sector jobs were cut between 2008 and the third quarter of 2013, with pay being cut by 40%.
