Greece sees 2nd general strike this month as unions protest new labor law
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Athens Tuesday as Greece’s labor unions called the country’s second general strike this month to protest a new labor law.
The 24-hour strike disrupted ferry schedules to and from the Greek islands while public transport in the capital was running on a reduced schedule, snarling traffic. No trains were running for the duration of the strike.
Unions representing private sector workers and civil servants called the strike to protest a new labor law that will allow greater flexibility in working conditions, including allowing overtime to stretch occasional shifts to 13 hours.
Labor unions argue the new legislation, which is due to be voted on in parliament Wednesday, leaves workers vulnerable to abuses by employers.
Flexible working hours “in practice means the abolition of the eight-hour (working day), the dissolution of any meaning of family and social life and the legalization of over-exploitation,” the civil servants’ umbrella union ADEDY said in a statement.
Unions are calling for the new legislation to be withdrawn, and for working hours to be reduced from the current 40-hour working week to a 35-hour week. They are also demanding pay increases and the reinstatement of collective bargaining agreements.