A nationwide strike in Greece over government plans to amend labour laws to allow extended working hours has paralysed public transport and disrupted other public services.
Taxis and trains in Athens will be unavailable during the 24-hour strike on Wednesday, while buses, as well as the city’s subway, tram and trolley services, scale back operations. Ferries were tied up in port.
The strike, called by unions representing civil servants and private sector workers, is set to interrupt numerous public services, including in schools, courts, public hospitals and municipalities. Protest marches are planned in central Athens and throughout the country around midday (09:00 GMT).
The unions called for the action to protest planned labour law changes that will introduce more flexibility, including allowing overtime that could stretch shifts to 13 hours a day. Under the new regulations, working hours that include overtime would be capped at 48 hours per week, with a maximum of 150 overtime hours allowed per year.
Unions argue the new rules would leave workers vulnerable to labour abuses by employers. “We say no to the 13-hour [shift]. Exhaustion is not development, human tolerance has limits,” the private sector umbrella union, General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), said in a statement.
The reform, GSEE said, “endangers the health and safety of workers and destroys the balance between professional and personal life”. It called for a 37-and-a-half-hour working week and the return of collective bargaining agreements.
Greece’s conservative government, however, argues that the proposed changes would benefit workers who want a more flexible labour market, including the option to work more. It stressed the reform would apply only for up to 37 days a year and offer workers the chance to get 40 percent overtime payments
“We guarantee a freedom of choice for both the employer and the employee. Why would that be antisocial?” said Greece’s conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier this month.
Despite falling unemployment and sustained growth, which according to the European Commission clocked 2.3 percent last year, low wages remain one of the main concerns for Greeks, along with the high cost of living.
The minimum wage, although raised, stands at 880 euros ($1,031) per month.
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