New State Sector Strike in Greece

Last state sector strike in Greece was on March 10, Photo by EPA/BGNES

State employees are to stage on Wednesday a new nationwide strike in Greece.

They are demanding that the government in Athens abandon plans for fresh mass layoffs within the state sector which are a condition of the international bailout program, Dnevnik.bg has reported.

Civil servants union ADEDY has called the strike action, in which doctors and medical personnel from state-owned hospitals are also to take part.

Rallies have been planned in Athens and Thessaloniki. On Thursday, a musical event will be held in Athens in support of the protests.

The concert is under the slogan "We Defend Social Welfare - No to Layoffs". The new demos begin a day after Greece met international lenders, the so-called "Troika", to discuss a EUR 10B package to be transferred in the next few weeks.

The country is currently set for a next bailout trance, as reports by the EUObserver suggest Athens has struck a deal with the EU and the International Monetary Fund over the next part of financial aid to the debt-ridden economy.

Greek Prime Minister Andonis Samaras has tried to appease citizens by announcing that the era ot austerity measures, which were implemented to save the economy and avoid default, will be over in a short time and that Greece is heading toward stabilization.

Nevertheless, the English-language Greek Reporter suggests that Samaras will push Parliament to agree on the latest austerity plans in weeks' time so that decision whether to grant money to Athens could be taken by Eurozone finance chiefs as early as April 1.

The upcoming bond payment by Greece is to take place in May.

In the same month, crucial municipality elections will be held. Greece, which is still in financial turmoil, has registered a budget surplus and has pledged to distribute EUR 0.5B among the country's poor and homeless, but also among other parts of society comprising, in the Prime Minister's words, "one million Greeks".

The sum was initially EUR 1B, but was reportedly lowered after meetings with the "Troika".

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