Greek gov't urges to end trucker strike
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The Greek government ordered civil mobilization on Wednesday afternoon to bring to an end a truckers' strike that has dried up gas stations and hit tourism and businesses across the country.
Greek government spokesman George Petalotis announced that civil servants will replace the strikers behind the wheels of freighter trucks and fuel tankers to fill up gas tanks again.
Only a few hours ago, a meeting between government officials and representatives of the owners of 30,000 state-licensed vehicles ended in a deadlock.
The talks ended with both sides standing firm on their positions. Unionists declared that the three-day strike would continue until the government accepts some of their demands, such as to postpone the tabling of a bill on regulating the sector scheduled for this week.
Petalotis said that the government has showed good will for constructive dialogue, but also has to take the general interest into account. The decision of civil mobilization was taken since the strike has caused severe disruptions to the social and economic life of the country and has endangered public health and order, he explained.
The Greek government plans to open up the freight truck market by 2013 in the framework of a package of reforms introduced in Greece this year with the aim to overcome a severe debt crisis that broke out in late 2009.
Since 1971 the sector has been "closed," which means that only the 30,000 truckers who were granted licenses by the state are allowed to transport goods.
The liberalization of the overall transport market could benefit national economy by increasing the GDP by up to 10 percent over the next five years, Greek experts have estimated.
But at the same time, it will make worthless the licenses bought by the truckers until today for up to 300,000 euros (389, 700 U.S. dollars).
The socialist government appears willing to give strikers some advantages in setting up firms to keep operating in the sector, but does not intend to back down on the reform.
"The current crisis can be turned into an opportunity for changes long due in the public as well as the private sector in Greece," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in a speech at the National Center for Public Administration on Wednesday afternoon, before signing the civil mobilization order.
Under the increasing pressure of European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Athens has to fully implement with no delays a Stability and Growth Program which includes harsh austerity measures and drastic structural reforms.
Otherwise Greece might not get the next tranches of the 110-billion-euro (142.8 billion U.S. dollars) EU-IMF aid package to tackle the crisis, as agreed in May. Since Monday a delegation of EU-IMF auditors has been holding a new round of talks with Greek government officials on the ways to speed up changes.
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