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Victoria Mindova

Traffic jams, rain and nerves marked the beginning of this week for the residents and visitors of Athens. In addition to the abrupt change in the weather, the people in the Greek capital were once again faced with the problems arising from the permanent transport strikes in the country. Buses, trolleys, subway, trams and the electric train are blocked for 24 hours as part of the public transport employees’ protest against both the introduction of the payroll salaries tables, which will reduce their monthly income, and against the labour reserve measure. Cleaning staff and employees of local government organizations are also among the protesters. Because of their strike some districts of Athens are buried in garbage, and torrential rains only worsen the situation, threatening public health. Tireless unions want to gain the right to exclude their branches from the fiscal consolidation, which was imposed in Greece, and to guarantee jobs and wages, although Greece is now on the verge of absolute collapse, and the whole euro area is sitting with it on the same branch.

Meanwhile, ordinary Greeks have had enough both of the chaotic politics of George Papandreou’s socialist government and the self-propelling dispute of Greek unions with public services offering transportation, electricity or public administration.

Urban transport strikes
"I spend an average of three and a half hours in the car to go to and from work when there is a transport strike," said 29-year-old Tassos, who works at a shipping company. Every day, he uses the electric train that connects the northern suburbs of Attica with the capital to get to the port of Piraeus, where his office is. The young man has been working at the company for five years but says that travelling to his job has become extremely difficult over the last two. "I have to go diagonally across the city, which on days without public transportation is true hell. Things can not go on like this," said the young man. He explained that due to the economic crisis, the company had to cut the staff and he is worried about his job. "Nobody wants to lose their jobs, but civil servants in Greece have already gone beyond all bounds," he said indignantly.

"On the days of the strikes, I no longer open my shop," said Eleni, who owns a small shop selling handmade home accessories. It is located in the heart of the city in the central region of Kolonaki district. She explained that in the beginning, when public transport was on strike, she used to use her own car. "The main problem in this case is that there is nowhere to park, especially on days with no public transport. Then, if you manage to find a parking space, it is only for residents of the neighbourhood and they will fine you. The paradox is that entrepreneurs who have business in the city centre do not have a parking permit, although we contribute to keeping jobs and pay all taxes that come to the mind of the government," she said frustrated.

Eleni explained about a third effect of the strike fever that has spread to transport and other unions in Greece. "The consumer culture has changed. People are less likely to go downtown for shopping or walking. Constant protests and ugly scenes in the heart of Athens over the last three years have driven away the citizens of the capital and they prefer to travel longer distances to buy something rather than run into a protest march in downtown. "On the days of strikes it costs more to open a shop than to keep it closed," said the shop owner in the capital. "We lose in both cases, but we do not spend money for transportation, electricity and heating in winter or cooling in summer, if not a single customer enters, i.e. no transport, no work."

Many citizens of Athens can not afford not to go to work and seek alternative methods of transport. Young men often resort to cycling which combines work with pleasure. However, it is not always appropriate to use it. 31-year-old Maria works in a private company, which is about four kilometres away from her home. "When my husband is not able to drive me to work, I have to take a taxi. My salary is only slightly higher than the minimum established in the country and taxis are a luxury for me, as you can understand." She said that this Monday was especially troublesome for her because she had to wait 30 minutes for the taxi driver and then he tried to cheat her with the tariff. She explained that she knew the way and the price of the distance between her home and place of work. When she remarked that the meter read more, the taxi driver told her, "If you don't like it, madam, you can walk in the rain."