Greek bank workers strike against privatisation

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Greek bank staff strike against state sell-off

Monday 30 July 2012

Workers at Greek bank ATEBank launched rolling 24-hour strikes today to protest against the carve-up of its employer.

The government announced on Friday that it will sell the state-run company in a no-cash transfer to Piraeus Bank and, to sweeten the deal for the privateer even further, will retain the bank‘s weak investments under state control.

Unsurprisingly banking sector shares zoomed up as much as 8.74 per cent on the Athens stock exchange as a result.

The Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions OTOE went ahead with a 24-hour strike to protest against austerity cuts.

Meanwhile the three parties involved in Greece’s coalition government resumed talks to try to agree on even more cuts demanded by its creditors as a condition for continued bailout financing.

Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met his junior coalition partners to attempt to persuade them to sign off on a new €11.5 billion (£8.9bn) cuts package for 2013-14.

Germany Is Scared to Throw Greece Out of the Euro: here.

Over 500 trains were cancelled in Spain today as workers staged a 24-hour strike against threats to privatise up to half the country’s railways: here.

The leaders of the three Greek government parties have announced their agreement on further austerity cuts amounting to €11.5 billion: here.

Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian UK: “The [European Central Bank] has always had, and continues to have, the power to end the immediate crisis in the eurozone, but has refused to do so…. [F]or a nefarious political reason: in order to force the weaker economies of Europe to accept a regressive political agenda”: here.

Although most governments and parliaments are on their summer break, a fierce dispute over the future of the euro is raging between the European capitals: here.

Workers in Tunisia have been protesting, and in some places striking, against the privatisation of factories that were nationalised during the revolution: here.