Athens: Civil servants strike for second day over austerity cuts
- 10 years ago
Public sector workers have marched through Athens for a second day, to protest over wage cuts and job losses.
Cash-strapped Greece is still trying to get back in the black after being bailed out four years ago.
“We have no way to earn a decent living, no money to survive,” said one protester.
“This government has pushed us below the poverty line in every sense,” he continued.
Earlier this week, the government said that it had struck a long-awaited deal with its international creditors to unlock the next installment of its rescue loan after seven months of tough negotiations.
Athens and the troika had been wrangling over economic reforms and progress of the bailout programme since September.
The Greek government said it is trying to prevent further pain to citizens and is redistributing 500 million euros to help those living in poverty.
But our correspondent in Athens, Stamatis Giannisis, said: “In spite of the government’s pledge to give certain low income civil servants and pensioners some 500 million euros from the fiscal surplus it produced in 2013, the dramatic reductions in the salaries of all state employees over the past four years makes that half billion perk look like a drop in the ocean.”
Cash-strapped Greece is still trying to get back in the black after being bailed out four years ago.
“We have no way to earn a decent living, no money to survive,” said one protester.
“This government has pushed us below the poverty line in every sense,” he continued.
Earlier this week, the government said that it had struck a long-awaited deal with its international creditors to unlock the next installment of its rescue loan after seven months of tough negotiations.
Athens and the troika had been wrangling over economic reforms and progress of the bailout programme since September.
The Greek government said it is trying to prevent further pain to citizens and is redistributing 500 million euros to help those living in poverty.
But our correspondent in Athens, Stamatis Giannisis, said: “In spite of the government’s pledge to give certain low income civil servants and pensioners some 500 million euros from the fiscal surplus it produced in 2013, the dramatic reductions in the salaries of all state employees over the past four years makes that half billion perk look like a drop in the ocean.”