Greece Braces for Wave of Mid-October Strikes over Austerity Measures

Greece is gearing up for a fresh wave of nationwide strikes over austerity measures taken by the government. Photo by BGNES

Cars have lined up in queues at filling stations in Greece due to a strike of refinery workers.

The Pan-Hellenic Federation of Employees in Petroleum Products, Refineries, and the Chemical Industry (POEPDHV) has called a general strike for October 11 to protest a draft bill submitted to parliament last week envisaging new taxes and drastic job and wage cuts to steer the country out of the debt crisis.

In the meantime, thrash keeps piling up on the streets of Athens due to the ongoing strike of municipal workers and garbage collectors.

Starting Tuesday, employees of the social security administration will walk off their jobs on what they have vowed to be a prolonged strike.

Public transport workers and port workers in the country are also gearing a new wave of walkouts to protest a draft bill providing for a new uniform public-sector pay scale and for the abolition collective labor agreements.

The Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions announced on Monday that it would go on a 48-hour strike on October 18 and 19 and accused the government of a political and constitutional coup d'?tat due to the draft bill of the governing Socialists for the abolition of collective labor agreements.

Bank workers believe that the said draft bill is sending democratic institutions to the guillotine of international lenders like the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

All banks in Greece will be closed on October 18-19.

On October 13, all employees of state-owned hospitals will stop work for a few hours.

A protest rally has been scheduled for the same date.

Public transport workers also plan to walk off their jobs on the same day.

Tax and customs officials have said they will join the protest activities.

Tax inspectors will go on strike in the period 17-20 October, while customs officers will go on three successive 48-hours strikes from October 18 to October 23.

Greece's two largest umbrella federations representing the public and private sector have called a 24-hour nationwide strike for October 19.

Lawyers in Greece have also threatened to go on strike in the period 13-19 October because they disagree with the government's austerity measures.

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