(eca084): Greek truckers' strike enters third week

Sep 30, 2010, 11:20 GMT

Athens - Striking Greek truck drivers kept their trucks lined up alongside major highways on Thursday despite risking arrest, in a continuing showdown with the government's new law liberalising their profession.

The strike, now in its third week, has seriously hampered the delivery of goods and caused food and medication shortages in major cities and towns and on many of the country's islands.

According to a report in the daily Kathimerini, the strike has caused some 1.5 billion euros in lost revenue, with damages from cancelled exports alone to reach 48 billion euros a day.

Farmers have also joined producers and shopkeepers in protesting the truckers' action, which resulted in hundreds of tons of uncollected produce left perished.

Truck drivers have not backed down in their fight against a new law affecting what is one of the most closed professions in Greece. The government is threatening to arrest truckers who refuse to return to work.

Road freight had remained one of the most closed professions in Greece for decades, with jobs protected by fixed fees and rates and strict licensing rules.

On Thursday, parliament is expected to pass a new law that would lead to the imprisonment of truckers violating a civil mobilisation order dictating that they return to work.

Truck drivers, who also blocked the country's roads for six days in July to protest against the new legislation, argue the new rules will cause thousands who have borrowed money to buy a truck licence to go bankrupt.

Unions say many drivers have paid between 200,000 and 400,000 euros (268,000 and 536,000 dollars) to buy licenses which were now worth almost nothing under the new legislation.

Greece has promised to reform its labour market as part of austerity measures agreed in exchange for a 110-billion-euro emergency funding package to avoid default from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The country's civil servants union ADEDY have called a 24-hour strike for October 7.