Greeks strike again against 13-hour work reform
ATHENS
Thousands of Greek workers Tuesday once again taken to the streets for the country's second general strike this month, protesting against government plans to introduce an optional 13-hour workday.
The mobilization shut down public and municipal services and paralyzed ferries and trains, but flights were unaffected.
Public transport in Athens is also operating on reduced hours. Police said nearly 10,000 people were demonstrating in the capital Athens and the second-largest city Thessaloniki, with protests also held in other major cities.
"This is a government which, from the very first moment it took power, fully satisfies all the demands of the employers," said Sophia Georgiadou, a 29-year-old retail store employee in Thessaloniki.
"The bill that provides for 13-hour workdays is essentially another attempt to legalize modern slavery. They want to take us back a century, to work without rights, without a life," she told AFP.
"Thirteen hours of work means I have no life. It's that simple. What is happening in Greece is dystopian," said 32-year-old telecoms engineer Kostas Vasileiadis.
The government has said the 13-hour workday, to be voted into law on Oct. 15, is optional, but opposition parties and unions argue that workers will risk layoffs if they refuse longer hours.
Another general strike on the issue was held Oct. 1.
"This [law] strengthens employees and facilitates businesses," Labor Minister Niki Kerameus told Skai TV Tuesday.
"It [only] concerns the private sector... it can be done for up to 37 days a year, which proportionately is three days a month," she said, adding that the measure "requires an employee's consent.”
The law will also broaden benefits for working mothers and allows staff to negotiate a four-day working week, she said.
The legal working day in Greece is eight hours, with the possibility of performing paid overtime.
Greece has already legalized a six-day working week, especially during high demand in certain sectors including tourism.
