With six days to go before the snap general elections, Greek labor unions called local administration employees on Monday to join a week-long anti-austerity protest, threatening to short circuit the polls. Greece has reduced election spending for the upcoming contest by about 25 percent compared to the previous parliamentary elections held on October 2009, in the context of efforts to cut down on public expenses to counter an alarming debt crisis, according to Greek Interior Minister Tassos Giannitsis. It is estimated that Sunday’s ballots will cost the Greek state approximately 60 million euros (79.38 million U.S. dollars).
As a result, bonuses of public servants for extra work in poll related activities will be slashed by some 40 percent compared to past years. Ahead of Tuesday’s traditional nationwide May 1 general strike for labor rights, the union of local administration personnel called for abstention from any task linked to the preparation of the polls in protest of the ongoing austerity measures.
“We will continue resistance to reverse these barbaric policies that condemn Greeks to poverty, unemployment and the sell off of public property,” said the labor union’s statement, referring to harsh salary and pension cuts and tax hikes introduced to slash deficits.
Full Article: Protest by Greek Public Servants to Hamper May 6 polls.
