Posted on 10/19/2011 12:34:34 AM PDT by Watchdog85
Unions representing around half of Greece's 4 million-strong workforce have called a 48 hour general strike for Wednesday and Thursday to protest against a sweeping package of austerity measures due to be passed in parliament this week.
A wave of smaller strikes over recent days by groups ranging from rubbish collectors to tax officials, journalists and seamen has given a foretaste of this week's protest which will culminate in mass demonstrations in front of parliament, the scene of violent clashes in June.
The protest, dubbed "the mother of all strikes" by the daily Ta Nea newspaper, is expected to be the biggest since the financial crisis began two years ago, shutting state offices, shops and even providers of everyday staples like bakers.
"They've made people want to throw stones at them with these measures. If they were willing to give up their salaries and bonuses, we would probably feel differently about them," said teacher Stamatina Lazopoulou, 36, a mother of two, who will take part in the strike
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Truth is stranger than fiction. Ancient Greeks rarely had more than two children and large families were frowned upon.
It’s also notable that Mongols and other nomadic peoples had no fertility goddesses/cults since having lots of kids was not very practicable in the food-grudging steppes.
The project was in the fifties (and is not yet complete), to build a road from one metropolitan are to another. Anyone could show up any time they chose, no heavy machinery was used, the government would supply picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. The supervisors could not "tell" anyone what to do, as long as the "laborers" looked busy they got a check.
And here we are, an incomplete road and a population that expects something for nothing.
The businesses should go on strike and lock their doors for a month.
Workers of the world..go hungry in the dark.
Agreed.
And when your biggest industry is tourism, rioting in the streets isn’t going to be one anyone’s sightseeing list.
Youd think Greece would be an excellent farming area..
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It is ,, riding a tour bus from port to inland ruins locations recently, there was all kinds of tilled land visible and such and quite a few different crops are grown there.
Most of it is consumed locally and in Europe.. except for olive oil. :-)
Was interesting seeing this on CNBC this morning.
The strikers throw Molotov cocktails and the police shoot tear gas shells which are pretty ineffective since the strikers all have gas masks.
I would think throwing a Molotov cocktail would bring a violent response in the USA, but who knows. The police are all unionized both places I think.
As if they actually work in the first place.
It sounds to me like Greece has a long history of not repaying debts coupled with citizens who avoid paying taxes and thinking nothing of it. Best of luck to Germany who is really on the hook.
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