EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING Greeks divided over bailout terms as country prepares to reopen banks

Record ID: 146627

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING Greeks divided over bailout terms as country prepares to reopen banks
  • Date: 19th July 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 19, 2015) (REUTERS) GREEK PARLIAMENT GREEK FLAG FLUTTERING SYNTAGMA SQUARE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN SQUARE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON PEDESTRIAN STREET WHERE SHOPS ARE LOCATED EXTERIOR OF CLOSED SHOPS BANNERS OUTSIDE SHOPS BANNER READING (Greek): "WORKERS RIGHTS - WE SHOULD NEVER OPEN ON SUNDAYS" VARIOUS OF BANNERS BANNER READING (Greek): "AGAINS
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CKDRCAZKTQQ4OH50YKIRD7R3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Dozens of Greek workers staged a picket outside shops in the capital Athens on Sunday (July 19) to protest against proposed Sunday operations, one of the many measures included in the troubled country's new bailout programme.
    The Greek parliament approved a bailout accord Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made with European partners in the early hours of Thursday (July 16).
    The deal agrees a painful mix of tax hikes, spending curbs and pension cuts as well as a rollback of collective bargaining agreements.
    It also includes opening the shops on Sundays - a major break from a long-held tradition of a work-free Sunday.
    Banners calling for 'No' to working on Sundays were displayed outside shops in the capital's main pedestrian shopping street near the country's parliament.
    Protesters said they felt betrayed by Tsipras and his Syriza party which in the past had championed workers' rights and campaigned against Sunday shopping hours.
    "We want to show our employers that we are on strike and we will protect the picket line and we want to send a message that we will continue our struggle no matter which government is in power," protest organiser Eleni Lalou said from the picket line outside global retail chains like Mango and H&M.
    But not everyone agreed with the protesters.
    "I believe that Tsipras in the only one who will be able to break the unions and he has to, for Greece. They don't let us go shopping like everybody else in the world - who do they think they are? Everybody works on Sundays. When I used to work, I worked everyday and even at nights," said Maria, a pensioner, as she walked past the protesters.
    The Greek government ordered banks to open on Monday (July 20), three weeks after they were shut down to prevent the system collapsing under a flood of withdrawals, as Tsipras looked to the start of new bailout talks.
    The decree to re-open the banks came hours after new ministers were sworn in following a cabinet reshuffle in which Tsipras replaced dissident members of his ruling Syriza party following a revolt over the tough bailout terms.
    Asked whether Tsipras and a newly-revamped cabinet will be able to deliver, two pensioners say they will have to.
    Senior citizens are among those hardest-hit by the terms as they continue to see their pension decrease.
    "It's hard. it's going to be hard. I think he probably will. I hope so (laughs) but with the help of the other parties," said Dora Papalexis.
    "Look, it's a one-way street. We will be forced to pay and come to terms with these measures. There's no other solution. And I am not a serious voter. I didn't vote for them. But this time, I'm on their side and I believe in these measures," said pensioner Alekos Alexakis.
    In a move that marked a split with the main leftist faction in the ruling Syriza party, Tsipras sacked hardline former Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and two deputy ministers following a party rebellion in which 39 Syriza lawmakers withheld support from the government over the package.
    The reshuffle allowed Tsipras to replace cabinet rebels with allies of his own or from his junior coalition partners, the right-wing Independent Greeks party.
    Tsipras now intends to seal the bailout accord with European partners over the next few weeks before likely new elections which Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said this week could happen in September or October.
    The rift within Syriza made headlines in the Sunday newspapers.
    The first action of the new cabinet was to sign off on a decree to reopen banks on Monday with slightly more flexible withdrawal limits that allow a maximum of 420 euros a week in place of the strict limit of 60 euros a day currently in place.
    But restrictions on transfers abroad and other capital controls remain in place.
    The move had been widely expected after the European Central Bank agreed to re-open the emergency credit lines which the tottering Greek banking sector needs to survive.
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