Protesters demonstrate against rising unemployment in Greece

Protesters demosntrate against rising unemployment in Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Figures recently announced by the Greek government show that unemployment nationwide at the record high of 15.1% and set to go even higher as nearly 1000 jobs are lost per day in the worst economic crisis the country has seeen since the end of the Second World War..

As the effects of the austerity package implemented at the behest of its creditors bite even deeper the Greek economy has contracted by over 6% in the last year alone. With cuts in the public sector and wages in general the average household has seen a drop in spending power of 40% which has led in turn to job losses in the private sector.

However, according to recent studies carried out by the GSEE (Greece's equivalent of the British TUC) the unemployment rate is likely to top 20 - 22% in 2012, meaning that 1,2000,000 will be looking for work in a nation of 11 million inhabitants..

In protesters outside a local unemployment office in the Northern Greek city of Thessaloniki today demanded the extention of benefit payments to all jobless for the entire period of their time out of work. At present jobless Greek can only claim dole if they have had collected 250 national insurance stamps in the previous two years, so ruling out hundreds of thousands who were previously employed in the country's extensive black economy. In addition once benefit payments run out after 12 months those without work can only claim again after two years of full unemployment leaving a question mark over the future of millions of families who may be faced with a future without any tangible source of income

www.demotix.com/news/658923/greek-jobless-figures-reach-r...

Greek riot police clash with protesters during Independence Day parade

Greek riot police clash with protesters during Independence Day parade, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Protesters unhappy with with austerity measures and Greece's involvement in Nato's Libyan campaign demonstrated during the annual independence day parades leading to the intervention of riot police .

www.demotix.com/news/635506/greek-independence-celebratio...

Greek protesters chain themselves to government building in solidarity with 300 immigrants hunger strikers - Thessaloniki, Greece,

Greek protesters chain themselves to government building in solidarity with 300 immigrants hunger strikers - Thessaloniki, Greece,, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

As the hunger strike by 300 immigrants in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece enters a critical phases dozens of supporters chained themselves to government buildings in the country's second largest city, Thessaloniki in a show of solidarity.

With the protest in its second month more than 78 of the participants have already been hospitalised and doctors treating the remainder warn that unless the strike ends immediately those taking part run the risk of permanent damage to vital organs. As of Sunday hunger strikers also decided to stop taking the salt and sugar solutions. Protesters also hung banners saying "The Papandreou government kills" from the balcony of the ex-Ministry of Northern Greece.

In Athens where 250 of the 300 immigrants are based Greek riot police broke up a press conference organised by human rights groups supporting the demands of the immigrants for legal residence papers.which was due to be held outside parliament.

More pictures on Demotix

Greek consumer groups organise bus ticket boycott

Greek consumer groups organise bus ticket boycott, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Faced with yet more hikes in public transport prices Greek consumer groups go on the offensive with nationwide protest by refusing to buy ride buses, trains and underground tickets. Angry consumers sealed ticket machines and encouraged fellow passengers to not buy tickets today in response to the second major ticket price increases which range from 33 to 180%.

With the Greek government anxious to cut public spending and raise revenue Athens has announced large cuts in public transport subsidies and increases in the cost of road tolls, trains ticket prices and other utilities such as electricity. However, with incomes plunging, the economy shrinking by nearly 5% and unemployment spiralling out of control such moves have angered Greek voters who are facing the most difficult financial conditions in a generation

Tomorrow activists have announced that they will direct their attentions to the country's motorway toll system which has also announced massive increases which have made the cost of travelling by road prohibitively expensive. It is currently cheaper to go from Athens to the country's second city, Thessaloniki by air than to drive.

More photographs can be found on the Demotix news service website.

Ochi (No) Day - Thessaloniki, Greece

Ochi (No) Day - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

For more pictures and comments check out my story on Demotix.com

Protesting truck drivers - Thessaloniki, Greece

Protesting truck drivers - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greek haulage associations have decided to continue strike action and blockades despite government moves to pass laws that would allow protesters to be jailed for up to five years and have their licence revoked.

With supermarket shelves emptying and shortages in basic goods appearing across the country Greek truckers this week voted to continue their industrial dispute with Athens over radical changes in transport policy which are aimed at liberalising road haulage regulations along with other sections of the economy.

However, continued resistance to the changes which were voted into law earlier this month has continued unabated across Greece with truckers refusing to haul goods to and from warehouses and ports. In addition there have been violent clashes between drivers and riot police units in Athens and other cities as the ruling PASOK government decided on a tougher line against strikers leading to arrests.

Shots were fired at truck operating in the Malakasas region in Attiki and according to Greek media there have been a number of attacks on Bulgarian vehicles in northern Greece.

For more photographs check out Demotix.com

Doctor who threw shoe at Greek PM wrestled to the ground

Doctor who threw shoe at Greek PM wrestled to the ground, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Despite massive security measures including the drafting of 4500 extra police officers into the northern greek city of Thessaloniki a lone protester managed to throw a shoe at the Greek prime minsiter, Giorgos Papandreou just moments after leaving the city's international trade fair inaugeration.

The aged man was quickly wrestled to the ground by the PM' security detail and dragged off to a waiting police car shouting that the country was now a "junta"and the government had planned to steal people's homes.

Even during Papandreou's walk about inside the fair other protesters managed to get within feet of the PM and voice their anger over the government's employment policies.

Outside the fair Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city has taken on the air of a city under siege with thousands of uniformed officers on every street corner and hundreds of riot police on high alert ahead of this evening's planned protest marches.

Yesterday evening fellow police officers along with firefigthers also marched in protest over cuts in salaries and planned changes to pension rights, closely followed by riot squad units.

More photographs on Demotix.

Greek general strike 29/06/2010 - Thessaloniki

Greek general strike 29/06/2010 - Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 striking trade unionists took to the streets in the northern port city of Thessaloniki in order to show their opposition to the recent austerity package which they claim will plunge millions of Greeks into poverty by allowing mass redundancies and by cutting pensions.

More pictures can be found on Demotix

2010 Thessaloniki (Not Quite) Naked Bike Ride

2010 Thessaloniki Naked Bike Ride, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

For the third year running hundreds of cyclist, roller skaters and wheelchair users rode through the streets of Greece's second largest city as part of the World Naked Bike Ride which aims to draw attention to the role of bicycles as ecologically friendly alternatives to motor cars in urban areas.

Although billed as a naked bike ride participants dressed upin beach wear and body paint in order to avoid clashes with the authorities who arrested people taking part for "unseemingly behaviour'. Despite the firendly atmosphere more than 30 members of the police rapid response motorcycle unit and riot police squads followed at a discreet distance.

According to organisers more than 800 people took in this year's event, more than double last year's figure and the 150 who participated in the first ride in 2008.

Demotix.com

Fans of Iraklis FC riot over relegation decision

Fans of Iraklis FC riot over relegation decision, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Fans of the Ιraklis football team took to the streets in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Angry over the decision to relegate the city's oldest club supporters fought with riot police yesterday evening in a series of confused clashes in which the authorities used tear gas, flash grenades and specially trained motorcycle units to break up the march.

More pictures and details on Demotix.com

Thanks to Asteris for lending me his camera. Promise I'll not lose this one and who knows he may even get it back in one piece.

Greek general strike - Thessaloniki, Greece 20th May 2010

Greek general strike - Thessaloniki, Greece 20th May 2010, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

About 10,000 people took part in two protest marches today in Thessaloniki. The demonstrations passed off peacefully and the police kept a discrete distance so managed to avoid inflaming a tense situation. Though the demo was smaller than the one on 5th May it was still reasonably well-attended. For more pictures check out my Demotix story.

News from the front

I haven't posted for the last few days not because things have been quiet but rather that there has been so much happening that I haven't had time to keep the blog up to date. Today, for example a bomb went off inside the central court building in Thessaloniki at midday. I heard about this by chance when the woman sitting next to me in a cafe got news of the event from a friend on her mobile phone. I happened to be in the middle of a major computer meltdown caused by some virus and so lost valuable minutes before I could reach the courts which by then had beeen closed off. Still, where's there a will, there a way in, so I managed to bypass the security cordon and get quite close.

According to eye witnesses I spoke to the bomb went off while people were still inside the building despite a warning phoned into the Athens based Eleutherotypia newspaper,. I think some people thought the whole thing was some kind of practical joke, not an unreasonable assumption given the fact that such phoned in threats are common here in Greece and almost always prove to be a hoax.

However, the fact that those who planted the bomb were able to breach security in a building that is literally crawling with police officers during working hours is not going to look good, especially coming just hours after the bomb attack on the Kordyllios maximum security prison in Athens (For previous security breaches click here).

During the week there were also a number of demonstrations and marches against the government's changes to the national pension scheme, most of which were throughly ignored by the mainstream Greek media who are quite happy to be the government's electronic cheerleaders, repeatedly parroting whatever is today's media line.

Much has been made of the fact that many very rich doctors with private practices in the upscale Kolonaki neighbourhood of Athens will be charged with tax evasion. This has been a staple diet of the TV news for the last few days, I suppose in the hope that by soaking the rich, at least symbolically then people will somehow accept the austerity package being foisted upon them. I doubt that even those who write this believe it will succeed but they faithfully carry out the orders of their "betters", no matter how absurd or untrue (for more on how the Greek media works check out this post).

There is still a real sense of anger over what is happening and despite what the Vima newspaper opinion polls might purport to show there is no popular mandate for the massive eonomic changes being made. Whilst no one is happy with the present situation the cuts in incomes in conjunction with price hikes on everything from petrol to electricity bills has infuriated most Greeks I know and is the constant source of complaint in radio talk in shows and cafe conversations. Where Vima managed to find 55% support for the PASOK government's handling of the crisis is beyond me especially as other polls by internet news serviceTVXS.gr and the centre right Kathimerini newspaper show exactly the opposite.

Soon, however, we'll have student elections in Greece universities and other highter education institutes and these are often seen as an indicator of the general state of the country's political parties support. It'll be interesting to see how PASOK and New Democracy fare given their support in parliament for the EU-IMF rescue deal.

Also the scale of the general strike and protests planned for May 20th should show how much prime minister, Giorgos Papandreou has managed to convince ordinary Greeks to take their medicine.

Greek teachers kick off country's general strike

Greek teachers kick off country's general strike, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Following the announcement of the austerity measures accompanying the EU-IMF bailout package thousands of Greeks have started a two general strike which is set to close down the country tomorrow. This morning thousands of teachers marchs in cities around the country over cuts in educational budgets and lost positions.

Yesterday evening approximately 40 teachers entered the state run NET TV station and interrupted the news forcing the channel to cut its regular programming. The incident ended with the intervention of riot police units who clashed with protesters..

More pictures on Demotix.com

Anti-government protests - Thessaloniki, Greece 27/04/2010

Anti-government protests - Thessaloniki, Greece 27/04/2010, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

In Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki about 1000 demonstrators marched through the street with some groups calling for the country's withdraw from the Eurozone. In tense scenes outside a government compound riot police used batons, tear gas and flash grenades to break up crowds who gathered to protests the attempted detention of two youth spraying graffiti on the walls of the building.

More pictures and analysis on Demotix.com

Greek riot police use teargas on protesters outside Thessaloniki town hall

Several people were injured and at least two taken to hospital during the riot police attempts to breaks up a demonstration outside a town hall in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki.

According to eye witness reports relayed via Twitter two women bystanders needed medical assistance for respiratory problems following the police's use of tear gas and pepper spray.

The demonstration was over government plans to reorganise local authorities, a move opposition parties claim is part of Athens austerity measures and which will lead to massive job losses.

More photographs on Demotix.com

Street Panthers protest - Thessaloniki, Greece

Street Panthers protest - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Shouting out slogans such "Pedestrians off the sidewalks now" and "Please make way for vehicles" the ecological group, Street Panthers took to the streets of Greece's second city, Thessaloniki in an ironic protest to make people aware of the way in which cars and bikes have taken over the country's sidewalks and public spaces.

Bemused bystanders cheered the event though many expressed their dissatisfaction with the slogans and remonstrated with protesters not understanding at first the ironic tone of the event.

Protesters also handed out stickers saying "I'm as stubborn as a mule. I park where I like" and encouraged people to put them on illegally parked cars that are a permanent fixture of Greek towns and cities.

More photos at Demotix.com

Vincent Alabiso reviewing portfolios - Thessaloniki, Greece

Vincent Alabiso, president of the Alexia Foundation reviewing portfolios - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

A two-day photojournalism seminar featuring speakers from the U.S., Greece was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on March 13-14, 2010. The seminar was co-sponsored by the Alexia Foundation and the American College of Thessaloniki.

The Alexia Foundation's photojournalism exhibition "Eyes on the World" opened at the same time for a month engagement at the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki.

Greek photojournalist and AP picture editor Dimitris Messinis reviewing portfolios at Alexia Foundation seminar.

More pics at Demotix.com

Greek general strike - riot police attempt to split protest march in two

Greek general strike - riot police attempt to split protest march in two, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Greece's largest trade unions managed to bring much of the country to a halt with strikes in both the private and public sector. In the northern port city of Thessaloniki approximately 10,000 people took to the streets in protest against the government's recently announced austerity package. Thessaloniki, Greece. 07/03/2010.

Although mainly peaceful there were some clashes when riot police units attempted to split the march in two, provoking a reaction by members of the teachers' union who attempted to block the move. The police answered with tear gas but quickly withdrew after coming under a hail of rocks thrown by other demonstrators."

More pictures on Demotix.com

Greek protesters charge gates of ministry building - Thessaloniki, Greece

Greek protesters charge gates of ministry building - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

In what is shaping up to be a clash between the entire labour movement and the Greek government, thousands took to the streets today to march in the protests against prime minister's Giorgos Papandreou's new economic package which sees widespread cuts in public sector services and pay cuts for civil servants. In addition a number of raises in VAT and indirect taxes have sparked off a wave of anger and demonstrations. Thessaloniki, Greece. 05/03/2010.

In today's marches organised by the PAME trade union confederation, demonstrators shouted “Give us back our stolen money” a reference to the widerspread belief that much of the country's 300 billion euro debt as been pocketed by mainstream politicians and those with close economic ties to Greece's two main ruling parties, New Democracy and PASOK which have governed since 1974.

Riot police used tear gas and pepper spray when protesters belonging to a coalition of left wing parties and groups attempted to bring down the main gate at the entrance to the ex – ministry of Macedonia and Thrace in the northern port city of Thessaloniki. About a dozen of the demonstrators managed to enter the ground of the government building to stage a symbolic occupation.

More picture here on Demotix.com

Greek general strike - Thessaloniki

Greek general strike - Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

In what promises to be the first round of a new series of confrontations between Greece's trade unions and the government public and private sector employees went on strike today across the country.

The strike action has paralyzed much of the nation's transport network and was accompanied by mass demonstrations in Athens and other major cities. As prime minister Giorgos Papandreou desperately tries to persuade Greece's EU partners that his government can reduce the massive $420 billion public debt burden threatens to destablisise not just Greece but the entire eurozone area.

However, recent government actions to raise revenues and reduce costs have put it on a collision course with trade unions anxious to protect members incomes and jobs. With some of the lowest wages in EU and unemployment rapidly rising labour leaders argue that the cost of country's debt repayments should not be shouldered by the country's poorest.

In Greece's second city between 8,000 and 10,000 marchers took to the streets demanding that the country's rich pay the price for the present crisis. European Union flags were also burnt in protest against the role of Brussels in role in applying austerity measures which threaten to derail the Greek economy and make any possible debt repayment plan even more difficult.

Demotix