GREECE: National strike to protest against more austerity measures brings parts of the country to a standstill

Record ID: 340631

  • Title: GREECE: National strike to protest against more austerity measures brings parts of the country to a standstill
  • Date: 8th February 2012
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (FEBRUARY 7 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GREEK PARLIAMENT IN ATHENS VARIOUS OF GREEK FLAG VARIOUS OF MAN AT A STREET STALL (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) 57-YEAR-OLD ATHENS RESIDENT, YIANNIS TSOUVALAKIS, SAYING: "They have impoverished us. They have completely impoverished us, we are a bubbling cauldron ready to explode." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Gr
  • Embargoed: 23rd February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece, Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEBXM2GH5XQS6NWHQ4B7Q7T9Z0
  • Story Text: Greek workers walked out on Tuesday (February 7) in a general strike to protest against the new wage cuts demanded by foreign lenders in order for Greece to receive a rescue loan that would prevent an unruly default.
    Greece's two main labour unions called the 24-hour strike against policies they say have only driven the economy into a downward spiral, with the recession deepening and unemployment rising.
    Doctors, teachers, judges, railway workers, bank employees and other Greek workers did not show up for work.
    Public transportation in the capital operated sporadically and only to convey people to rallies organized by the trade unions for later in the day. Ships stayed moored at their docks, and trains parked empty on the tracks.
    Some Greeks expressed frustration with the government's policies over the last two years.
    "They've turned the country upside down in the last two years. They've driven us crazy. In the end, we won't even be able to find coffee to drink. What can I say about these people? They aren't people, they are barbarians," said unemployed Athens resident Kostas.
    Others said they had suffered from the government's severe austerity plans.
    "They have impoverished us. They have completely impoverished us, we are a bubbling cauldron ready to explode," said Yiannis Tsouvalakis.
    Greek leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to secure a new international bailout and avoid a chaotic debt default, caught between EU demands that they accept painful reforms now and a national strike against yet more crippling austerity.
    Prime Minister Lucas Papademos negotiated through most of the night with Greece's European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lenders, finishing at 4 am just as the 24-hour strike was about to begin, closing down ports and tourist sites and disrupting public transport.
    Now Papademos, a technocrat parachuted in to lead the Greek government late last year, must persuade leaders of the three parties in his coalition government on Tuesday to accept the EU/IMF conditions for the 130 billion euro rescue.
    With Greece's future in the euro zone in question, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Athens on Monday (February 6) to make up its mind fast if it would accept the deal - and its conditions of reforms to make the economy more competitive which will lead to big cuts in Greeks' living standards.
    Finance Minister Evanagelos Venizelos said talks with the "troika" of lenders were tough - the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - and that as soon as one chapter closes, another opens.
    Greek party leaders face a general election possibly as early as April and have been reluctant to accept yet more austerity to be piled on top of a series of pay cuts, tax rises and job losses imposed since Greece's first bailout in 2010. After weeks of argument a number major issues have yet to be sorted out at Tuesday's party leaders' talks.
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