Wed, May 16, 2007
Flights Cancelled, Tourists Stranded
A 24-hour strike called by Greek
transport workers Tuesday is expected to disrupt 100 flights at
Athens International Airport -- leaving tourists and residents
on several Greek islands stranded.
Greece's General Confederation of Employees, the country's
largest labor union, called the nationwide strike to protest the
government's handling of a pension fund scandal that led to the
forced resignation of Greece's employment minister, Savvas
Tsitouridis, Saturday.
Athens airport officials said Aegan Airlines cancelled 38
flights and Olympic Airlines was expected to cancel 62
international and domestic flights to the Greek islands and other
destinations on mainland Greece while eight other flights, Milan,
Belgrade, Bucharest, Hania and Santonrini are to be
rescheduled.
Other transport workers expected to join the walkout include
those with the suburban railway system, trolley, ports, bus and
metro services. Banks, tax offices, primary and secondary schools,
government and municipal offices will close for the day while
construction workers will stay away from building sites, according
to The Europe Channel.
The Greek mass media are also expected to join in the 24-hour
walkout resulting in a news blackout that will affect all radio and
television programming as well as press offices and print media
Media workers are demanding the return of their state pension
funds' purchase of government bonds at inflated prices. The union
is accusing more than 20 state-controlled funds of paying face
value for bonds quoted at a steep discount by electronic vendors in
what appears to have been long-running fraud carried out by Greek-
owned brokerage companies as reported by European news outlet
EUX.TV.
A protest march through central Athens to protest the latest
fund scandal is also scheduled. Thousands of union members
belonging to Greece's General Confederation of Employees and state
sector workers are expected to participate.
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