The Pan-Hellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) will participate in the Pan-Hellenic 24-hour strike on May 1st, the International Workers’ Day, leaving ships and ferry boats tied up as tourist season gets into full swing.
The ships will remain tied up in the docks from April 30 midnight until May 1st at midnight. The seamen, some of whom haven’t been paid for six months or more, were forced back to work by the government earlier this year under the threat of arrest when they went on a prolonged strike.
The workers are upset with pending reforms that they said could force job losses although the government has argued that fewer ships and crew members are needed in winter months when passenger demand is far lower.
The country’s labor union representing private workers called the strike to protest austerity measures that have created a record 27.2 percent unemployment rate, none of it in the public sector where the government has yet to fire a worker despite repeated demands from its international credits to pare the rolls.
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