Greek civil servants plan new strikes next week

[xchrom]

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greek unions on Friday threatened further strikes next week, a day after parliament approved new harsh cutbacks to secure international loans despite protests and riots that left one man dead and nearly 200 injured.

The new austerity measures include further pension and state salary cuts, civil service staff cuts, a reduction in the tax-free threshold and a watering-down of workers' collective bargaining rights. Their approval by the governing Socialist majority was expected to pave the way for a vital euro8 billion ($11 billion) payout from international creditors within weeks so Greece can stay solvent.

Ilias Iliopoulos, secretary-general of the Adedy civil servant union, insisted the new law "will not be implemented," and accused the Socialists of turning a blind eye to the toll these measures will take on workers.

"This government has ignored the popular uprising by approving this terrible law," Iliopoulos told The Associated Press. "Our answer is: get out as fast as you can, there is no place for you in Greece any longer."

[Rene Descartes]

1. "This government has ignored the popular uprising by approving this terrible law,"

Those in government are seldom affected by the calamitous policies they foment upon the People. They have become accustomed to having a reserved seat on the gravy train and view their privileged treatment as a right, and thus react with petulance to the notion that they are no different that the rest of us.

[FarCenter]

2. Pride and optimism are dangerous things

Saw a clip a couple days ago of the now disused stadiums, grounds, and other improvements done for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The construction costs exceeded budget by a factor of two. They represent a large debt and stranded investment in now essentially worthless buildings and landscapes.

There were also massive construction of infrastructure in Athens away from the specific venues.

The whole thing generated a lot of optimism and good feeling and engendered an economic boom in Greece.

But it incurred a lot of debt, private and public, for expenditures that will never return their costs.

Humility, pessimism and a cold assessment of reality are good things.

Governments must spend money with a keen eye on what the return on the expenditures will actually be.