Greece: Athens Burns amid General Strike against Austerity

A general strike called in Greece to protest against austerity measures being imposed by the Syriza government turned into clashes between police and protesters on the streets of Athens, Thursday.

Austerity Protests in Spain and Portugal on Europe-wide Day of Action
Union members and activists in Madrid and Lisbon gather to join a European day of action against austerity measures. Workers in Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal were all due to hold protests on Wednesday. A 24-hour strike causes transport disruptions, including many cancelled flights

Greece Suffers Fifth General Strike as Metro Blockaded in Madrid
Violence erupted in Bilbao during a one-day general strike. Photo: The Times
THE TIMES: Violence broke out during Greece’s fifth general strike of the year, while in Madrid the Metro was blockaded in a foretaste of a summer of industrial unrest.

As Mediterranean governments push through austerity measures, masked youths took part in running battles with police in Athens, with domestic flights and many ferry sailings from the port of Piraeus cancelled.

Public and private sector unions in the country announced that there would be a sixth all-out stoppage next week, when the package of pay and pension reforms comes to a final vote.

“These measures will not help. They will only lead to deeper recession and poverty,” said Despina Spanou, a board member of the Adedy civil servants’ union, which helped to organise the marches. “We are resisting the slaughtering of our rights.”

The governments of Greece and Spain are increasingly worried about the impact of unrest on tourism — which is a mainstay of both economies. >>> Philip Pangalos in Athens, William Bond in Madrid, David Charter in Brussels | Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Greece Brought to a Halt by Austerity Protest Strike
TIMES ONLINE: Much of Greece ground to a halt today as public and private sector unions called another general strike in opposition to tough government austerity measures and proposed pension reforms aimed at restoring fiscal order for the battered economy.

Traffic stopped moving around the centre of Athens with streets closed off as an estimated 20,000 demonstrators holding banners and chanting slogans marched towards the parliament building in Syntagma square. There were separate mass demonstrations in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

More than two million workers of the five million strong Greek workforce have walked off the job after a 24-hour nationwide general strike by ADEDY, the 800,000-strong civil servants’ union, was joined by the larger General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), which represents about two million workers in the private sector.

The mood was tense in parts of the capital as several hundred demonstrators aligned to anarchist or extreme leftist groups also took to the streets.

At one point, small groups of rock-throwing protestors clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse them. Although they constitute a relatively small minority of the largely peaceful but very vocal demonstrations, they were closely watched as they often clash with police or cause damage to property. >>> Philip Panaglos in Athens | Thursday, March 11, 2010

La Grèce paralysée par les grèves
LE FIGARO: Une grève nationale touchant les transports et les services publics continue de figer la Grèce pour le deuxième jour consécutif. Près de 10.000 personnes manifestent ce jeudi à Athènes contre le plan d'austérité.

La Grèce affronte ce jeudi sa deuxième journée de grève nationale, en moins d'une semaine. A l'appel des deux principaux syndicats du pays, les employés du secteur public et des transports ont cessé le travail pour protester contre le plan d'austérité. A Athènes, 10.000 manifestants défilent dans les rues, selon les chiffres de la police, aux cris de «pas de sacrifice pour la ploutocratie».

Les transports sont paralysés, le trafic aérien nul et les hôpitaux publics sont gérés par le personnel d'urgence. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Jeudi 11 Mars 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Greek rioters clash with police as 10,000 protesters take to the streets: Protesters clashed with riot police as more than 10,000 people marched through central Athens during a nationwide general strike against the government's harsh new austerity measures. >>> | Thursday, March 11, 2010

TELEGRAPH VIDEO: Violence flares as general strike hits Greece >>> | Thursday, 11. March 2010

Related:

Several articles and videos pertaining to the crisis in Greece >>>

Liens en relation avec ces articles:

De nombreux articles relatifs à la crise financière grecque >>>

Verbunden mit diesen Artikeln:

Mehrere Artikel über die Finanzkrise in Griechenland >>>

Greece Set for Second General Strike in a Month
BBC: Greece is expected to grind to a halt for the second time in a month as hundreds of thousands of state and private workers stage a general strike.

The stoppage is in protest at the country's austerity measures.

The head of the employers' federation has accused the strikers of trying to make Greece into a charity case.

More groups of workers are staging industrial action and officers from the police, fire and customs services are planning to join the street protests.

Greece's links to the outside world have been severed.

Air traffic controllers have closed the country's airspace for 24 hours and ferries are stuck in harbours as maritime unions join the strike.

The government says it sympathises with public anger over the tax rises and wage cuts, but it is refusing to water down the measures. >>> Malcolm Brabant, BBC News, Athens | Thursday, March, 11. 2010

Generalstreik gegen Sarkozys Krisenpolitik: Erhebliche Verkehrsbehinderungen am «schwarzen Donnerstag»
NZZ Online: In Frankreich ist der erste Generalstreik gegen die Krisenpolitik von Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy angelaufen. Am Morgen kam es bereits zu erheblichen Behinderungen im Nahverkehr von Paris und Marseille. Zu rund hundert Demonstrationen im ganzen Land werden Millionen Menschen erwartet. >>> ap | Donnerstag, 29. Januar 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: France Hit by National Strike on 'Black Thursday'

France woke up to a day of nationwide strikes in both the public and private sector on what has been billed as 'Black Thursday'.

However, disruption to transport networks appeared to less than expected.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are expected at more than 200 rallies to call on President Nicolas Sarkozy to do more to protect jobs and wages.

Three-quarters of people and all the main trade unions support the day of industrial action.

The protesters are demonstrating against the worsening economic climate and rising unemployment in France and at what they believe to be the government's poor handling of the crisis.

The main bulk of protesters will come from across the public sector, from postal workers to court officials and a huge contingent of teachers marching against Mr Sarkozy's plan not to replace 13,500 jobs in education this year when staff retire or quit the profession.

But employees from the private sector, from car plant workers but also helicopter pilots, supermarket cashiers and even ski lift operators, will also take part.

All major cities were experiencing transport delays, but slightly less than expected, particularly in Paris. >>> By Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, January 29, 2009

leJDD.fr: Grève: Le point à la mi-journée

Annoncée dans la perspective d'un "jeudi noir", la mobilisation sociale à travers tout le pays à l'appel de huit syndicats semble moins massivement suivie que prévue. Si le débrayage est bien réel et concerne de nombreux secteurs de la fonction publique et du secteur privé, les perturbations et le nombre de grévistes sont pour l'heure relativement limités. >>> Par le service Société, leJDD.fr | Jeudi 29 Janvier 2009

LE FIGARO:
”Jeudi noir” en images >>>

LE FIGARO: Une journée de grève coûte 300 à 400 millions d'euros

En Ile-de-France, une journée de grève équivaudrait à 50 millions de perte de chiffre d'affaires.

Transports paralysés, salariés coincés, journées de RTT posées, production qui prend du retard, livraisons non acheminées… La facture d'une journée de grève comme celle de jeudi peut potentiellement coûter cher aux entreprises. >>> M. Vt | Jeudi 29 Janvier 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Anarchy in Greece: Greece Comes to a Standstill as Riots Continue
Greece came to a standstill today as a nationwide strike piled pressure on the government as it struggled to deal with the worst rioting in decades.


Banks, schools and public transport were shut and hundreds of flights in and out of the country were cancelled as air traffic controllers also went on strike.

Stathis Anestis, spokesman for a federation of private sector unions, said: "Participation in the strike is total, the country has come to a standstill."

The opposition Socialist party repeated calls for the centre-right government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to resign and call early elections.

"He and his government are responsible for the widespread crisis that the country, that Greek society is experiencing," said Socialist party spokesman George Papakonstantinou.

Newspapers added to the pressure on Mr Karamanlis's beleaguered administration, with the headline in the popular daily Ta Nea warning: "Government and police on the brink of collapse".

The paralysis came as police clashed with demonstrators in Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioaninna and on the Aegean island of Rhodes for the fourth night in a row. At least seven officers were injured.

In the capital, students hurled petrol bombs and riot police responded with tear gas a few blocks from where 15-year-old schoolboy Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot dead by a police officer on Saturday night, plunging Greece into its worst civil unrest for decades.

"The winds of destruction are blowing through our city," said Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis. >>> By Nick Squires In Athens | December 10, 2008

leJDD.fr: Tension maximale à Athènes

Pour la quatrième nuit d'affilé, Athènes et les grandes villes grecques ont connu une nuit de violence, après qu'un adolescent a été tué samedi par un policier. La capitale est sous haute surveillance mercredi car un grand rassemblement s'y tient dans la matinée, marquant le début de la grande grève générale de 24 heures. Mais des affrontements ont déjà eu lieu.

C'est la journée de tous les dangers pour les forces de l'ordre grecques. La grande grève générale de 24 heures débute ce mercredi matin, par un grand rassemblement dans la ville d'Athènes. L'ambiance est électrique dans la capitale. Depuis quatre nuits, une vague de violences urbaines secoue le pays, animée par des étudiants, des anarchistes, ou de simples citoyens, qui protestent contre le gouvernement après qu'un jeune adolescent a été tué samedi par un policier.

Cette grande manifestation avait été annoncée avant samedi, lancée par les syndicats du public et du privé, qui entendent dénoncer la politique économique et sociale du gouvernement conservateur. Dans le contexte tendu, le Premier ministre Costas Caramanlis a demandé aux organisateurs d'annuler le mouvement, en vain. Des milliers de personnes ont commencé à se rassembler devant le Parlement, là même où les émeutiers se réunissent la nuit. D'ailleurs très vite, des affrontements ont eu lieu entre des émeutiers et les forces de l'ordre. Les premiers, armés de pierres, de bouteilles et de bâtons se sont opposés aux policiers qui ont répliqué avec des tirs de gaz lacrymogène. Les syndicalistes ont toutefois lancé un appel au calme pour que la manifestation se déroule sans incidents. La Grèce fonctionne au ralenti, les services publics, les transports et de nombreuses entreprises sont affectés par l'appel à la grève lancé par les deux grandes centrales. "La participation à la grève est totale, le pays est à l'arrêt", se réjouissait Stathis Anestis, porte-parole de la GSEE, fédération syndicale du secteur privé. >>> Par Maud Pierron (avec Reuters) | Mercredi 10 Décembre 2008

NZZ Online: Folgen eines versäumten Strukturwandels: Griechenland wird von seinen zivilen Unterlassungen eingeholt

Seit Tagen ist Hellas in Aufruhr. Auf die Krawalle und Plünderungen in einigen Städten folgte das politische Stimmengewirr, in dem die gegenseitige Schuldzuweisung der politischen Kräfte Urständ feiert. Die Gründe für die missliche Lage der Nation liegen tiefer.

«Europa sind die anderen», lautet ein geflügeltes Wort in Griechenland. Es hat seine Gültigkeit auch nach dem EWG-Beitritt des Landes (1981) behalten und gilt ohne weiteres bis in die heutigen Tage der EU.

Was mit diesem gerade hier etwas eigensinnig anmutenden Satz zum Ausdruck gebracht wird, ist ein tiefer Argwohn gegenüber dem Lebensstil in «Westeuropa», den modernistischen Überzeugungen im westlichen Zentrum, mithin den Verheissungen der offenen Gesellschaft.

Die zivilgesellschaftlichen Institutionen haben es auch seit dem Untergang der Diktatur (1974) schwer in Griechenland. Tiefe Gräben durchziehen die griechische Gesellschaft. So folgen etwa die politischen Akteure einer längst überkommenen Interessenstruktur: Kapital vs. Staat vs. Agrarbevölkerung vs. Gewerkschaften usw.

Was darüber versäumt wurde, ist der bewusste Aufbau einer Zivilgesellschaft. Die Misere des Bildungswesens etwa ist nicht nur an den griechischen Universitäten zu erkennen, an denen ein Studium nach europäischen Kriterien durch monatelange Streiks wechselweise der Professoren und der Studenten seit Jahren unmöglich geworden ist. Vor allem der sekundäre Bildungsbereich und die Berufsausbildung (das anderswo längst bewährte duale System) stecken in den Kinderschuhen, falls sie die Fusswickel je abgestreift haben. >>> Von Perikles Monioudis | 10. Dezember 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>