Strikes Across Greece Causes Airspace to Close
February 26th, 2010
It now seems that a general strike across all of Greece has caused Greek airspace to close to all international and domestic flights. This strike has caused the country’s transport infrastructure to grind to a complete halt.
This 24 hour strike is the first to be called by public and private unions since the Socialist government won elections back in October.
The action has been followed by anger among the six-million-strong workforce in Greece who are aiming their frustrations at measures imposed on Greece by the European Union.
Right now, Greece is presently running an annual public deficit of 12.6 percent. This is more than four times greater than Eurozone rules allow. In response, the national government has frozen public sector salaries, raised the average retirement age to 63 and increased taxes on petrol, alcohol and tobacco. All of this is in an effort to cut the deficit.
Steps are also in place to counter the country’s black market, which accounts for over 30 percent of the country’s GDP. Participation in the walkout will allow Greek authorities to gauge public support for these measures.
Of course, in result to the industrial action, Greece will be isolated from the rest of the world for the next 24 hours. All flights in and out of the country have come to a complete halt. Even a vast majority of the rail services have been canceled.
This is just yet another problem for Europe’s aviation industry, which has suffered great disruptions this week. Just on Monday, pilots at German carrier Lufthansa walked out in disputes over job security. The good news is that the staff did return to work less than 24 hours into the four day planned action.
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