A nationwide strike in Greece, organized by the country’s two main unions, GSEE and ADEDY, has gained additional support from air traffic controllers and seafarers. As a result, there will be no flights, and passenger ships are destined to remain docked in ports.
Train services will also be halted as railway workers join the protests. These strikes come two years after the tragic February 2023 railway accident that claimed 57 lives, with demands continuing for enhanced safety measures on the railways.
The Athens metro and trams will operate for just seven hours to facilitate the movement of those participating in demonstrations in the capital’s center.
“The small salary increases granted over the past two years by the government to public sector employees, after a decade of cuts, do not compensate for their income loss when considering the significant widespread rise in prices,” stated the Confederation of Public Sector Unions (ADEDY) in their strike appeal.
During the financial crisis that afflicted Greece from 2010 to 2018, salaries were slashed by up to 40%.
“The high cost of living is eroding workers’ incomes without any governmental intervention,” underscored the leading private sector union, GSEE, in their call to action.
The unions are demanding that the government of the conservative Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, increase wages to ensure a “dignified” living and establish collective labor agreements across all sectors, protecting workers from employer abuse.
ADEDY also calls for “concrete” measures to address the pervasive high cost of living and the housing crisis.
This union is additionally seeking to reinstate the so-called “13th and 14th salaries,” which are extra payments made to public servants during Christmas and Orthodox Easter that were removed during the financial downturn.
Both unions demand justice for the “Tempe crime,” where two trains collided head-on on February 28, 2023, in a section of track lacking necessary safety systems, resulting in the deaths of 57 people, most of them young individuals.
Despite repeated assurances from Mitsotakis that Greece is now a “model to follow in Europe” regarding economic policy, the country remains among the poorest in the European Union.
According to data published last month by Eurostat, Greece’s purchasing power was the second lowest in the EU in 2024, surpassing only Bulgaria.
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