Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ uneasy coalition government faces a challenge on July 17 when a reform bill with more than 100 items, including schemes that could lead to the firing of as many as 40,000 public workers goes before the Parliament, where lawmakers have voiced some anxiety over the tough measures.
Samaras, the New Democracy Conservative leader, has the PASOK Socialists in his administration and together they have 155 of the 300 votes in Parliament.
Some MP’s in the ruling parties have voiced discontent over the job firings because it was their parties who packed the public payrolls with hundreds of thousands of needless workers for generations in return for votes and they are said to be unhappy with further alienating their core constituency.
Samaras and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, who the premier appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in return for withdrawing his opposition to the firing of workers, had a talk with the would-be rebels to try to bring them into line. MP’s who buck the party line are usually ejected.
In a sign of the uneasiness, some 100 lawmakers said they wanted to speak on the multi-faceted bill that is expected to pass late in the night, a day after a general strike brought out about 16,000 protesters, a fraction of the crowds that had shown up when former premier and previous PASOK leader George Papandreou was in power, driving him out of office in November of 2011.
Greece’s international lenders, who have authorized release of 8.1 billion euros ($10.46 billion) in a new series of loans as part of a second bailout of $173 billion, are demanding the public workforce be pared. It was bloated by generations of PASOK and New Democracy administrations hiring hundreds of thousands of needless workers in return for votes.
The July 16 strike shut tax offices and other government services, reduced hospitals to emergency staff and disrupted travel. Trains remained in depots and international flights were suspended between noon and 4 p.m. as air traffic controllers joined the action.
The unions’ appeal drew some 16,000 demonstrators onto the streets of the capital, according to a police spokesman who said the rally was “entirely peaceful.” Hundreds of similar protests over the last three years have all failed to move the government to change its mind about unrelenting waves of pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions that have cut disposable income 46 percent and created a record unemployment rate of 26.9 percent and put 1.3 million people out of work – all in the private sector.
With nowhere else to turn as privatization has stalled and tax revenues are far off expectations despite big tax hikes and beleaguered Greeks have slowed spending dramatically, the government has turned to its sacred cow: firing public sector workers.
Some 15,000 are due to be let go by the end of 2014 while 25,000 this year will be put into a so-called mobility scheme, paid 75 percent of their already reduced wages for up to eight months and then let go if another position can’t be found for them. Critics said it’s just a disguise to fire workers while pretending to try to safeguard them.
Civil servants who attended the rally said they were fearful about losing their jobs in the public sector overhaul, particularly those close to retirement. “I’ve been in this job for more than 20 years,” said Manos Stefanakis, a 53-year-old school janitor who was holding a banner reading “let’s lay off the government.”
The government is not going after Parliament workers or more highly-paid middle managers or consultants, but is targeting lower-paid workers, such as janitors, school crossing guards, teachers and municipal police instead. “Who’s going to employ me after this? No one will give me work and I can’t retire. I’m finished,” said Stefanakis.
“We will resist all those whose wrongheaded and dead-end choices have led the Greek people into poverty and wretchedness,” said the main private sector labor union, GSEE, which called the action with the civil servants’ union, ADEDY.
Samaras’ decision last month to immediately shut down the public broadcaster ERT and fire all 2,656 workers precipitated turmoil in his administration and led to the departure of the tiny Democratic Left (DIMAR) from the previous coalition.
The Parliament vote comes a day before German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose country is insisting on the harsh austerity measures while putting up much of the bailout money, is due to meet Samaras in Athens on July 18.
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