I sindacati greci per lo sciopero contro la richiesta di aiuti
● Minacce di scioperi da parte dei sindacati greci e discorsi populistici dai partiti di opposizione
o contro la richiesta del governo greco a UE e FMI di attivare gli aiuti promessi.
o i lavoratori sciopereranno se le condizioni legate al salvataggio impongono tagli a salari o pensioni; sarebbe ingiusto e anche dannoso per l’economia.
● PAME, sindacato del Partito Comunista Greco, appello agli iscritti e alla società di ribellarsi alla “plutocrazia”;
o Pame ha organizzato di recente uno sciopero di due giorni,
o a cui ieri ha aderito la federazione del pubblico impiego, ADEDY.
– Gli scioperi sembrano meno partecipati e meno aggressivi.
– Il Partito Nuova Democrazia (centro-destra) accusa il governo di gettare il paese nelle braccia dell’FMI; il Pasok, il partito al governo, non avrebbe saputo conquistare la fiducia dei mercati.
o I partiti conservatori rimangono impopolari,
o e quelli di sinistra ancora più marginalizzati.
L’ampia maggioranza parlamentare del Pasok, ora più che mai necessaria, sarà verificata con le misure di austerità programmate prossimamente.
APRIL 23, 2010, 11:11 A.M. ET
Greek Unions Vow to Strike Over Aid Appeal
– A few short hours after Greece submitted its formal request to activate the joint bailout mechanism promised by the European Union[e] and the International Monetary Fund, the country’s unions threatened more strikes and the opposition party launched populist tirades against the government.
"It’s an unfortunate development," said Stathis Anestis, the spokesman for the private-sector umbrella union[e] GSEE. "But it’s like a worker recently told me, if you are ready to die and its slow and painful, maybe even shock therapy is not a bad option for the chance to live."
– Mr. Anestis warned of protests, saying workers would strike if the conditions attached to the bailout impose cuts on workers’ salaries or pensions. "We will have no choice but to take to the streets, because that would be unfair as well as harmful to the economy. It would be a disaster," he said.
– The hard-line Greek Communist Party didn’t mince its words, and details or no details, once again called on its supporters and all of society to stand up to what it called the "plutocracy" and rise up to resist what it sees as a coming storm of measures that will hurt the working class.
– Its PAME union[e] recently staged a two-day strike, and yesterday it was joined by the public sector umbrella union[e] Adedy. But the strikes were smaller and less aggressive than they had been in the past. Political analysts suggest that this shows that public opinion is more educated and that the government has dominance and control over the political landscape.
– The main opposition New Democracy Party, however, charged the government flatly with steering the country into the arms of the IMF, in a departure from its recently muted tones.
– The center-right party leader, Antonis Samaras, said in a televised speech that the "government has never had a plan nor does it have one now, and it is exclusively to blame for reducing the country to IMF economic dependence—an asphyxiating form of control."
The conservatives blame the Pasok government for the borrowing crisis, saying that the Socialists’ "amateurish" handling of the nation’s affairs has meant the ruling party couldn’t win the trust of markets. "Papandreou was shocked and was surprised, so he made this decision to subjugate Greece to the auspices of the IMF," said Mr. Samaras.
– Nevertheless, the conservatives remain deeply unpopular and parties to the left appear increasingly marginalized, so voters have seemed more comfortable with the attempts—and even the trial-and-error failures—of the Socialists to pull the debt-ridden Mediterranean country out of its current mess.
– Political commentator John Loulis criticized New Democracy for pandering to the average Greek’s fear about the IMF. "In reality, the government made the correct decision since it had no choice and it did in very quick time," he said.
– Others are more critical of the timeliness of Mr. Papandreou’s decision-making, saying he appears to have left things to the last minute when any other choice was all but impossible. "They had the illusion that they could tame the markets and they lost time because of that," said George Sefertzis, a political analyst. He is unsure how much the decision will cost Mr. Papandreou politically. "It’s the great unknown," he said.
– Pasok’s comfortable parliamentary majority has never been more necessary and could be tested in the days to come as the government takes on interests to try to ram through reforms that they have already promised to Europe—something even people inside the party recognize.
– "There may be reactions even from within Pasok over this," a senior socialist party official said, "but none can predict the scale of the public’s reaction once the measures are felt."
—Alkman Granitsas in Athens and Costas Paris in Singapore contributed to this article.