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MOUNDS OF RUBBISH festered in rising temperatures in Athens today as thousands demonstrated in support of refuse collectors demanding the renewal of their contracts.
Authorities said around 5,000 people gathered in central Athens, closing roads to traffic in the latest protest against austerity measures imposed by the country’s international creditors.
Protesters descended on Syntagma Square, which has become a crucible for popular discontent over Greece’s flailing economy.
Refuse collectors in the capital have not done their rounds in three days due to a contract dispute, with unions suggesting 6,500 workers risk having their terms expire.
With rubbish piling up across the city, Athens municipality urged residents not to take out their waste as temperatures topped 30 degrees by midday (10am Irish time).
Similar protests were held in Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki and in Heraklion, the capital of Crete.
Waste management in Greece is a recurring source of contention due to a recruitment freeze and many workers being offered only temporary contracts.
In Athens, refuse workers are calling for a new dump as the only current disposal site is deemed to be overfilled and a public health risk.
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Sinn Fein/ Syriza policies have worked a treat in Greece. Such a pity we didn’t follow Gerry and Mary Lou’s advice 6 years ago- sure we’d be only flying now.
@@angrymanwithissues: to blame Syriza rather than the EU is greatly unfair and shows you’ll take any excuse to bash the left, even when it’s actually the fault of neo-liberalism.
@Niall Campbell: I’m less interested in left vs right and more interested in realists vs the criminally deluded.
@@angrymanwithissues: Then you should be ‘realist’ enough that greeces financial woes were due to decades of right wing government facilitation of wholesale tax evasion. Syriza undertook the largest fiscal adjustment in modern history, only for a financial coup to be executed against them by the EU and the ECB.
@@angrymanwithissues Syriza policies were not implemented, as they were ganged up on by the other EU member’s, and Noonan sided with the Angela and co. You do realize Noonan and co saddled the Irish citizens with 200 billion Euro national debt costing 8 billion pa in interest, a 1/5 of all taxes collected by the Revenue. These debt’s were not the debts of the citizens, it was Bankers, Developers, speculative bond holders and the rest of the greed merchants that was socialized onto the backs of the citizens who will pay the price of incompetent politico’s, State regulators, and Accounting House’s
@James Doyle:
Irelands government debt is 185 billion. About 43 billion disappeared into the banks and 142 billion comes from the difference between what the state earns in taxes and what it spends and has nothing to do with bankers etc etc.
Which number is biggest?
@P.J. Nolan: Irelands debt has quadrupled since 2007. The tax intake plummeted as the economy crashed and tens of thousands of people lost their jobs.Austerity and tax increases was the name of the game because the unregulated banks gave out too many high risk loans and the taxpayer was left to pick up the pieces.
So i think you’ll find it has everything to do with bankers and matched with terrible governing it was and still is a recipe for disaster!
http://www.ntma.ie/business-areas/funding-and-debt-management/debt-profile/historical-debt/
@P.J. Nolan: Google Ireland’s debt clock and see is it you or I who is wrong about the debt figures.
I blame the troika.
@Barry O’Brien:
I blame the EU.
@Joseph Rooney: I blame the Greeks.
@Davin Ryan: Why for taking the money the EU shovelled at them to convince them to join the EU?
@Kerry Blake: for cooking the books for years and for their poor tax collecting efforts
@Barry O’Brien: I blame the Greeks. Only place where tax evasion is done by all classes.
@Davin Ryan: ”They invented gayness”
The ugly face of unbridled Capitalism, the rich get richer and the poor get the crumb’s. Paris 1789, Athens 2017, only difference is 228 years.
The Irish take any shi€ heaped on them.
@Fake Avast: The 8 Billion is only the interest, it does not come off the capital of 205 Billion which was socialized onto the back of our citizens and future generation’s
Sure privatisation surely sort em , eh Leo ?
That pic looks like it it could have been taken in Dublin. Only difference is that the Greeks have placed their rubbish in an orderly way beside the public bin. In Dublin there’d be litter strewn everywhere.
The guard in the photo with the moobs and the beer belly looks like he’s straight out of Templemore and on a water tax protest in Tallaght.
Supose theyll be privatizing their refise collection then.
Ill bet you a large euro corporation will be profiting very soon.
As usual.
Lads I lived there for 5 years back in the mid 90′s. Rubbish strike in the city at this time of year was an annual event. It was mingin’. Once saw a dirty big rat chase a cat down the street. Mad craic!
I could’ve sworn that top photo was Talbot Street. The place looks like a riot has hit it every morning. At least Athens have any excuse for the rubbish lying everywhere, what it ours?
The rats will think their Christmases have come together !!
Just back from
Athens and did not see any piling up of rubbish
Good on ‘m for kicking up a stink.
An armada of barges laden with Greek rubbish is on its way to Ringsend.
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