Greek Police Clash With Austerity Protesters



Demonstrators have gathered in the square in front of parliament
for 21 days, setting up tents and calling on others to join them

Greek police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators encircling the Parliament House as 20,000 people rallied against Prime Minister George Papandreou’s additional wage cuts and tax increases.

Protesters rushed police guarding the parliament in central Athens as union supporters joined up with demonstrators who have been camped out in front of the building for almost three weeks. Ports, banks, hospitals and state-run companies ground to a halt today as the two biggest unions went on strike.

ADEDY, the largest public-sector union, and the General Confederation of Labor, or GSEE, the biggest private-sector union, called the third general strike of the year to protest the government’s five-year fiscal plan and state asset sales, a 78 billion-euro ($112 billion) package required to continue receiving funding under a European Union-led bailout plan to avert default. Papandreou said he’ll push ahead with the plans.

“Each must assume their responsibilities to the people and the country,” he told Greek President Karolos Papoulias today. “We will proceed with imperative decisions.” Papandreou said he is in touch with leaders of Greece’s parliamentary parties and seeks national agreement.

The prime minister is also facing growing dissent within his Socialist Pasok party over the measures, which will face a parliament vote this month. One Pasok lawmaker said yesterday he won’t vote for the bill and a second withdrew from the party, the To Vima newspaper reported in separate articles. Papandreou now has a five-seat majority in the 300-member assembly.

Government’s Responsibility

“This government has the responsibility to save the country from default,” George Petalotis, a spokesman, told reporters in Athens yesterday when asked about the strikes.

A group called the People’s Assembly of Syntagma that is urging people to encircle parliament held a banner that read: “Their parliament will be their prison, we are decided.” Lawmakers today begin to debate the bill, submitted on June 9.

Demonstrators have assembled in the square in front of parliament for 21 days, setting up tents and calling on others to join them. Police said the largest rally was on June 5, when 50,000 people gathered.

Papandreou’s budget measures, which include higher taxes and lower public-sector wages, aim to get more aid after a 110 billion-euro bailout approved last year failed to secure market access for Greek bonds in 2012.

Stocks Slide

An emergency session of euro-region finance chiefs in Brussels yesterday failed to break a deadlock on how to enroll investors in a second bailout without triggering a default, casting doubt on funds due from the International Monetary Fund next month.

The Athens stock exchange fell, with the benchmark general index losing 2.8 percent to 1,231.52 at 1:40 p.m. in Athens. National Bank of Greece SA (ETE), the biggest bank, lost 5.1 percent to 4.60 euros.

Public-sector workers, hospital employees, bank workers, and police officers are participating in the 24-hour strike. Ferry operations are disrupted and public transport will be interrupted. Journalists lifted a planned media blackout earlier today.

Unions oppose Pasok’s plans to sell stakes in state-owned companies such as Public Power Corp SA. (PPC) The GENOP union, which represents workers at the company, said it will hold 48-hour rolling strikes from June 20 until the government backs down and today occupied Public Power’s headquarters, according to the state-run Athens News Agency.

“We demand withdrawal of the harsh and unjust measures being imposed by the government as it has been commanded to do by our lenders,” GSEE said in an e-mail.
Bloomberg.com