Greek unions opted for another 24-hour general strike for May 20, which will paralyze the country. The strike is organized by workers' unions in the public sector ADEDY and the Confederation of Greek Workers, participating in it is also the close to the Communist Party of Greece syndicate PAME. This time the strike is a protest against “anti-workers and anti-insurance measures, which the government is undertaking in the new law on social security”.
"We reject the bill, proposed by the government and we will act immediately," said ADEDY President Spyros Papaspiros. "At a time when vital income is cut for workers such as the 13th and 14th salary and pension will be reduced, new projects are coming on social insurance system, which makes the income of people with low pensions extremely small," he added. According to him instead of focusing on finding new sources of funding the reform of social security system in Greece is focusing on the reduction of pensions which are low already.
In a separate statement to the media the communist union PAME appeals: "We can stop the destruction of our social security and pension rights. We can delay and cancel their plans. We can terrorize them".
The Greek social security system is one of the reasons for the large deficit of the country. It is one of the most expensive social security systems in Europe, because pensions sharply contrast the real work experience of people. In Greece, it is possible to take a pension even if you have a very short work experience. Small, but nevertheless pension, which is funded from the budget and thus raises its deficit. The reform of this system is one of the conditions for the financial assistance of €110 billion allocated for Greece by the EU and IMF.
Tonight, the two biggest Greek unions GSEE and ADEDY along with the union of bank employees OTTOE are organizing a large protest against the reform of the pension system in the center of Athens.
Expect more details soon.