Thursday Mar 14, 201312:01 AM GMT
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Anti-austerity protest in Greece as govt. holds talks with lenders
Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:0AM GMT
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Constantine Venizelos, Press TV, Athens
As
Greece government is holding talks with debt inspectors in Athens, the
country’s civil servants begin their own protests against upcoming
radical changes in the state infrastructure. Cutting the budget of state
infrastructure is what the country's international lenders set as a
pre-condition to continue their flow of cash to the crisis-stricken
country.
Civil
servants here in Athens say it is ironic how Greece's debt inspectors
are describing a grim picture when they say the country has not yet
fulfilled its commitment to austerity reforms.
It is the result if the policies both they and the government have agreed upon to supposedly bring Greece out of the crisis loop. European technocrats say this week’s talks with finance and labor ministries’ officials show that Greece is still not doing enough to manage the debt-ridden health sector or keep the municipalities from folding under continuous budget cuts.
This might not be the biggest protest ever staged by the civil servants' national confederation of unions, ADEDY, but it doesn't mean it is any less significant.
These state workers say Greece's net income, cash fluidity, supply and demand for basic goods and services is at an all time low. There is minimal domestic and foreign investment in Greece at the moment, while public and private businesses are struggling to keep ahead of loans, taxes and insurance costs.
Finally, the people here say that Greece is seeing the harshest shift in labor rights and contracts in its five-year financial insolvency. Wages and pensions are relentlessly less compared with increasing working hours and a minimal health and welfare infrastructure.
The Greek government is trying to enforce an urgent trans-ministerial directive that will set in motion the implementation of the bulk of the country's third austerity memorandum, ahead of a crucial early April Euro group summit, a make-or-break month, these workers say, for Creece's immediate future.
While these workers are protesting austerity cuts, the troika chiefs insist 27.000 civil servants should be ousted by year's end. They also say the government is not managing the 500 million euro deficit in state health insurance funds or local government finances. Meanwhile, March's emergency payout to Greece might be suspended, if the debt inspectors fail to reach an agreement with Athens.
end quote from:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/13/293464/antiausterity-protest-in-greece-as-govt-holds-talks-with-lenders/
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