site.btaGreek Civil Servants Demand Higher Wages, Organize Work Stoppage

The Greek public sector union ADEDI has organized a three-hour work stoppage in the Athens area on Tuesday according to the online edition of the newspaper Kathimerini. The union is demanding the reversal of significant wage cuts imposed during the sovereign debt crisis more than a decade ago. 

ADEDI is also demanding a pay rise with civil servants are demanding the restoration of Christmas and Easter bonuses, which totalled two additional monthly salaries and were abolished for public sector employees as part of drastic cost-cutting measures introduced in 2012. According to the newspaper, the union is involved in legal proceedings before the country's highest administrative court, requesting the reintroduction of the so-called 13th and 14th salaries.

Civil servants will stop working from noon to 3 p.m. (local and Bulgarian time) and will also hold a protest rally in front of the State Council building in central Athens at 12:30 p.m. (local and Bulgarian time). They are calling on judges to rule more quickly on the case.