Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Worker unions are getting ready for the March 11 general strike

March 11 is a day of general strike in Greece declared by GSEE (the General Confederation of Greek Workers)  and ADEDY (the Civil Servants' Confederation).
The Greek workers are reacting the government’s new law --and voted Friday—that raises Greece's top VAT rate to 21% from 19% [It was 18% 5 years ago], freezes public sector pensions, cuts civil service entitlements and bonus pay, while also raising taxes on fuel, alcohol and cigarettes.
"We are expecting a big turnout Thursday, there will be demonstrations in dozens of cities around Greece", said Andreas Petropoulos, spokesperson for ADEDY. "We are just at the beginning of our strike actions".
The tax collectors have declared a 48-hour strike for Monday and Tuesday, while sanitation workers at Athens' municipal waste facility have announced they are closing the facility until Friday, extending a two-day long strike over the weekend.
At the same time, court workers will stage two-hour work stoppages every day through Thursday, and local government officials will stop work for four hours Wednesday.
Teachers’ unions OLME (high schools) and DOE (primary schools) declared a strike for March 11 too and at the same time participate in a rally scheduled for Wednesday.
The Movement for the Reorganisation of the KKE 1918-55 supports the strikes and has released posters, flyers, etc. to support the struggle.

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