Concerns over Troika’s crisis management triggers Greek strikes

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Greece’s main public and private sector unions, GSEE and ADEDY, declared a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday in protest against further austerity measures imposed on the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

The strike disrupted public transport, halted ferry and train services, shut down courts and state-run schools, and left state hospitals and the ambulance service functioning with emergency staff.

Dozens of flights were also cancelled or rescheduled as air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours in support of the labour action.

“Workers, pensioners and the unemployed are going through an endless nightmare. The government and the Troika [the IMF, EU and ECB] are destroying this country,” port workers said in a statement.

In Athens, thousands of people, mainly from the communist PAME union, marched under torrential rain to Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament.

In Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, up to 10,000 protesters held two separate demonstrations.

The strike took place as the government resumed talks with international debt inspectors over what measures are needed to fill Greece’s looming budget deficit before signing off on a €1 billion euro loan instalment next year.

Greece’s international lenders are pressing for pension cuts, faster privatisations, better tax collection and more job losses.

Their proposals, which include changes to employment laws, pension schemes and public insurance funds, are likely to plunge even more Greek families into poverty as it would effectively spell an end to the Greek welfare state.

No more austerity

The Troika is also insisting that Greece’s two state-owned defence companies, EAS and ELVO, should be sold off or shut down immediately, as they are considered a drain on public services.

Such a decision would be detrimental to the foreign contracts already signed as well as the needs of the Greek armed forces.

On Thursday, the former state-owned Greek public broadcaster ERT was raided by riot police, prompting public outcry. Former employees have occupied the building since the government closed ERT and sacked its 2,600 staff in June.

The Greek government has opposed the idea of more austerity especially after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras vowed to never again inflict such harsh conditions on the Greek people.

Samaras has said that the government will draw the line at imposing new measures should Troika inspectors request more austerity.

Speaking in Brussels in October, Samaras said “no” to new horizontal measures and stressed the need for solidarity and responsibility in Europe while underlining the great sacrifices already made by the Greek people.

Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, also expressed opposition to a new memorandum of understanding on tougher austerity measures.

In a meeting in Athens last week, Samaras and Venizelos presented a unified front in negotiations with the country’s international lenders.

Criticism

At the same time, Greece’s resistance to further austerity cuts comes as the Troika has faced a raft of criticisms over its overall handling of the Greek crisis.

Back in June, the IMF admitted that it underestimated the damage its measures would cause the country.

And this Tuesday, Troika officials appeared for the first time in front of the European Parliament – which has been scrutinising the workings of this semi-official body – and answered questions on how Troika decisions were taken and what lessons had been learnt.

Troika officials, who admitted that their forecasts for Greece were “off-track”, were also sharply criticised for their erroneous economic forecasts on the reform programmes imposed on Greece, Cyprus, Ireland and Portugal.

The hearing was only a first step; later this month political leaders in the European Parliament will decide on the scope of a parliamentary inquiry into the Troika’s work in these four Eurozone countries.