Greece labour law protests bring public transport to a halt
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.
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