Protests in Greece against pension reduction

Public sector workers in Greece went on strike on Tuesday to protest against the pension reduction "policy" imposed during the crisis until now with the new Government, according to the strong Adidi Syndicate. 

Municipal and provincial workers also participate to demonstrations, as well as public transport workers. The protests in the central square of Athens really affected the traffic in the capital.

Maritime traffic was disturbed as well by the maritime union strike. Reporters stopped working for three hours in the early afternoon and protests were expected to take place at noon in central Athens as the government says the pension reform bill that Parliament will vote on by Friday aims to ensure the continuity of the Greek pension system until 2070.

Despite union opposition, the Hellenic Government included in the project the pension’s increases of some professional groups and reduction for retirees who continue to work. Greece has implemented several reforms in the social coverage system in the past decades, whose main feature was the increase in spending, which represented one of the causes of the debt crisis from 2010 to 2018.

During the crisis and austerity, pension systems have undergone two important reforms: the abolition of several social security funds and the raising of the retirement age to 67, in line with demographic change. The right-wing government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who came to power seven months ago, has promised to return the extra month's payment to retirees cancelled in the past years and to reduce the retirement age.