Electricity strike enters day five /Greece
source: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/106283
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by Tom Mellen
Greek power company chiefs told citizens to prepare for longer power cuts today as employees maintained an open-ended anti-austerity strike for the fifth consecutive day.
Public Power Corporation (DEH) bosses warned that the blackouts "will be of longer duration" because the action by organised employees has now forced about 4,770 megawatts of capacity offline - around 4 per cent of the company's capacity.
Power blackouts are now being implemented between 11am and 4pm in mainland Greece, between 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Crete and between 7.30pm and 10.30pm on Rhodes.
The Genop-DEH union kicked off the open-ended action on Monday in a bid to prevent the unpopular government going ahead with plans to sell its controlling stake in the utility.
The sell-off is part of a €50 billion (£44bn) privatisation drive that the Papandreou administration's European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors have foisted on the country.
DEH bosses have filed a legal request for the strike to be declared illegal which, if approved, would force staff to return to work.
MPs are scheduled to vote on the DEH sell-off as well as a related €28bn (£25bn) "mid-term programme" by Thursday.
Members of Greece's two major umbrella unions, the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) and the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEDY), will ramp up pressure on MPs by joining their GENOP-DEH allies on the picket lines on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The GSEE said in a statement that it "rejects the Mid-Term programme" and expects ministers to "implement and respect collective labour agreements and halt the sell-off of public utilities and other state-owned assets."
In a separate announcement ADEDY accused the government and the EU, IMF and European Central Bank of "following a destructive path for workers and society" and called on civil servants to participate in the strike mobilisation.
The action will hit all government agencies, including public transport and domestic and international flights.
http://figrd.blogspot.com
Greek power company chiefs told citizens to prepare for longer power cuts today as employees maintained an open-ended anti-austerity strike for the fifth consecutive day.
Public Power Corporation (DEH) bosses warned that the blackouts "will be of longer duration" because the action by organised employees has now forced about 4,770 megawatts of capacity offline - around 4 per cent of the company's capacity.
Power blackouts are now being implemented between 11am and 4pm in mainland Greece, between 8.30pm and 10.30pm on Crete and between 7.30pm and 10.30pm on Rhodes.
The Genop-DEH union kicked off the open-ended action on Monday in a bid to prevent the unpopular government going ahead with plans to sell its controlling stake in the utility.
The sell-off is part of a €50 billion (£44bn) privatisation drive that the Papandreou administration's European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors have foisted on the country.
DEH bosses have filed a legal request for the strike to be declared illegal which, if approved, would force staff to return to work.
MPs are scheduled to vote on the DEH sell-off as well as a related €28bn (£25bn) "mid-term programme" by Thursday.
Members of Greece's two major umbrella unions, the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) and the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEDY), will ramp up pressure on MPs by joining their GENOP-DEH allies on the picket lines on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The GSEE said in a statement that it "rejects the Mid-Term programme" and expects ministers to "implement and respect collective labour agreements and halt the sell-off of public utilities and other state-owned assets."
In a separate announcement ADEDY accused the government and the EU, IMF and European Central Bank of "following a destructive path for workers and society" and called on civil servants to participate in the strike mobilisation.
The action will hit all government agencies, including public transport and domestic and international flights.
http://figrd.blogspot.com
