Unions Threaten More Strikes Against Greek Government


Greek civil servants warned on Monday they could call more strikes if the Socialist government unveils tough austerity measures to cut its deficit and ballooning public debt, Reuters reported. The ADEDY public sector union already plans a 24-hour strike on Wednesday as Prime Minister George Papandreou puts the finishing touches to a deficit-cutting plan, endorsed by the European Commission to pull Greek finances back from the brink. His socialist government has promised to tighten one of Europe's leakiest tax systems and freeze public sector wages in a bid to slash Greece's deficit from 12.7 percent last year to below the EU's 3 percent ceiling by 2012. The government's emergency tax reform and wages bills are expected to be unveiled this week and become law by the end of the month, but details have angered Greece's powerful unions. Read more. >