General GSSE Strike on December 15th

A general strike was announced for the 15th of December by Greece’s largest labor union, the GSSE Union. The unemployment rate rose to 12% in July. The government expects that the employment rate will worsen to 14.5% next year as the economy suffers its third consecutive year of recession. The strike is a sign of protest to usterity measures agreed under the bailout plan and looming future ahead. The strike’s purpose is to demand that the government protect jobs and give back pension benefits scrapped under an EU and IMF bailout plan.

This year GSEE and public sector union ADEDY have staged six joint general strikes. The turnout has been declining since the government has pressed ahead with the EU and IMF plan. Protest enthusiasm was also dampened by the death of three bank workers during a May demonstration in Athens.