The 24 hour General Strike which has been announced for this Wednesday 17th May, will thankfully not affect Crete as much as it will affect those in the capital of Athens and in some of the other big Greek cities.
The reason for the strike is, as many may have already heard, the new legislation that the government needs to pass through parliament in order to finalise an agreement with our lenders, which will see more cuts in pensions and increases in taxes for some.
Generally it is an agreement which is being seen as a fourth memorandum between Greece, the EU and the IMF, which although it is designed hopefully to bring the much required growth, it is feared by most, that it will just bring more spiralling austerity and poverty.
The two major National Unions, the GSEE – which is the private sector union and the ADEDY, which is the main union of those working in the public sector, are the key unions involved.
This means in simple terms that in Crete, theoretically, we will have no public services available to us, such as tax office, IKA, Town Hall, etc – or only an emergency quota of staff, for example in hospitals. The strike is not forced, so it is possible in some cases, such as schools, that some individual workers will choose not to follow the directives of their union.
It is not anticipated that the strike will in anyway affect charter flights.
The National Sea Workers Federation is also striking but, as they had previously announced, they will actually be partaking in a 48 hour strike on Wednesday and Thursday, so there will be no ferries from Crete to the mainland, over that period.
Market stall holders have agreed to participate in the 24 hour strike action, so it is likely that the market in Agios Nikolaos on Wednesday may be affected, although each trader in the past has been known to take a personal stance.
As we are now at the very beginning of the new tourist season, it is not anticipated that the private sector will be affected at all in Crete, apart from some very minor exceptions.
Rallies are being organised locally by bodies such as the Workers Centre of Agios Nikolaos, who invite those who which to join them in their protest, to be at their offices at 10am on Wednesday and in Sitia, there will be a rally at 11:00 in the main square.
in Crete