----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 1:00 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] FW: Political Instability in Greece Reuters. 26 April 2001. Strike Cripples Greece Despite Government Climbdown. ATHENS Striking workers shut down much of Greece on Thursday, crippling schools, hospitals, banks, public transport and state agencies, despite a government climbdown on unpopular pension reforms. Tens of thousands of demonstrators swarmed through central Athens heaping scorn on now-frozen government plans to raise the retirement age and change the way the country's 200 or so pension funds are administered. "Retirement for all at 55," read one banner. "Pensions are a right, not a product." The protesters clogged streets in central Athens that had earlier been almost devoid of traffic as public and private employees heeded union calls for a general strike and stayed away from work. Buses, trolley buses and the Metro in the capital were at a standstill. Children stayed home from closed schools. State doctors were on strike, and radio and television stations broadcast no news as journalists joined the national walk-out. Air travel was also severely hit. Air traffic controllers went on a two-hour stoppage in the morning, grounding flights. State carrier Olympic Airways cut its flights back to only one per country and one per local destination. Yannis Haronikolaou, press officer for the GSEE union umbrella group that called the general strike, said nationwide strike participation had been very high and that the demonstration had been huge. "GSEE figures for the Athens rally show there were close to 100,000 people," he told Reuters. The strength of opposition to the reform package -- some of which came from within the ruling socialist party itself -- had already registered on the government before the strike began. Labor Minister Tasos Yannitsis, a key ally of reformist Prime Minister Costas Simitis, announced late on Wednesday that he was putting the plans on hold and asking all concerned to come up with new suggestions. The move was widely portrayed in Greek media as an embarrassing step-down by the government. Yannitsis insisted that the plans were only frozen, not dropped. Unions have previously refused even to discuss the plan. The government wants to make pension funds viable and reduce deficits. Plans would merge more than 200 pension funds currently operating in the country, which has been reforming its economy in line with new euro-zone membership. "The existing regime is characterised by intense inequalities, social injustice...and will lead...to rapidly increasing deficits," Simitis said on Thursday. Greece's complex system allows for widely different retirement ages, although there is a statutory age of 65 for men and 60 for women. Some women in public service, for example, can retire after only 15 years. The proposed rules would set a retirement age of 65 for most people. Some financial analysts saw the government's freezing of its reform plans as worrisome for its efforts to modernize Greece's economy. "Unless it is a tactical move, developments in pension system reform indicate the government's weakness toward the achievement of structural reforms," Selas Investments brokerage told its clients. SPAM TO FOLLOW Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
