ATHENS As transportation workers, hospital physicians, school teachers, and construction workers joined a statewide strike to protest reduced living standards and demand higher compensation, ships arrived at Greek ports and railway and bus services were disrupted on Wednesday.
In exchange for bailouts totaling 280 billion euros ($297 billion) during the 2009–2018 debt crisis, which cut a fourth off Greece’s economic output and almost forced the country out of the eurozone, many Greeks saw their wages and pensions cut.
The Greek economy has been slowly improving since 2018. Since assuming power in 2019, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right government has increased the minimum monthly gross wage four times, to 830 euros per month, with plans to boost it even higher to 950 euros by 2027.
The Greeks, however, claim that the increases are insufficient and that their earnings, which continue to lag below the European average, are insufficient to cover their monthly expenses due to the rapidly rising costs of housing, food, and electricity.
The largest private sector union in Greece, GSEE, issued a strike poster calling for quick and significant pay increases for workers facing what it described as an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, stating that prices and rents have surged while earnings are at a low position.
The Greek labor union GSEE, which represents around 2.5 million workers, also called on the government to take action against oligopolies, which it held responsible for coordinated actions that increased the price of necessities.
Later on Wednesday, workers were scheduled to demonstrate in central Athens.
In addition to reiterating his appeal for the EU to assist with power pricing disparities that he claimed saw Greeks paying far more than other nations in the bloc, Mitsotakis conceded on Monday that there was space for improvement in terms of wages and GDP per capita.
The strike occurs as the government presents its final 2025 budget to the 300-seat parliament later Wednesday for discussion and a vote that is scheduled for next month.
According to the draft budget, rising property sales and the expansion of digital payments will boost tax revenues and the economy by 2.3% in the upcoming year.
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