Published: July 29 2010 15:54 | Last updated: July 29 2010 23:36
Greek police fired tear gas outside the transport ministry on Thursday to break up a demonstration by hundreds of striking truck drivers who had rejected an emergency civil mobilisation order.
George Papandreou, the prime minister, took the unusual step of ordering a mobilisation on Wednesday after the breakdown of talks with truckers’ unions.
In depth: Greek debt crisis - Jun-28.Analysis: Greece: A marathon to sprint - Jul-29.Greece ‘ahead of the curve’ on fiscal targets - Jul-27.Greek journalist shot dead - Jul-20.Relief over successful €1.6bn Greek debt sale - Jul-13.Greek central bank accused on short selling - Jul-13..A government statement said the decision was taken in order “to end a strike that has caused serious disruption to economic and social life and poses a threat to public health because of increasing shortages of fuel, food and pharmaceutical products”.
The four-day strike has shut down more than 70 per cent of petrol stations round Greece and stopped deliveries of fresh produce to wholesale markets and supermarkets.
A police official on the island of Crete said tourists had abandoned hundreds of motorcycles and rental cars at petrol stations or by the roadside because of the strike.
“Rental agencies have been calling us to help find vehicles because some foreigners didn’t know where they’d left them,” the official said.
Peach growers in northern Greece said that several processing plants had shut down because of fuel shortages.
“We can’t supply the cannery and we can’t get fresh fruit to market. We’ve lost the entire first week of the season,” said Stefanos Aslanis, a grower in the Imathia district.
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..Transport ministry officials on Thursday started a fresh round of talks with union officials. But some drivers said they would ignore the mobilisation order.
“If the police want to deliver mobilisation papers, they’ll have to find us first,” said Charalambos Davitsios, a fuel tanker driver.
The truck drivers oppose the opening up of their closed-shop profession, which restricts the total number of truck licences to 36,000. No new licences have been issued since 1986, although the country’s economy has doubled in size in the past three decades.
The bulk of goods are transported by road, as Greece has only a limited rail network.
Greece is obliged to open up almost 70 closed-shop professions under the terms of its €110bn ($143bn, £92bn) bail-out by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
The finance ministry is accelerating the liberalisation of product and service markets in a bid to stimulate a return to growth.
Liberalisation of trucking would give the economy an immediate boost of 1 to 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product according to IOBE, a private Greek think-tank.
Draft legislation due to be approved by parliament next month calls for doubling the number of truck licences and allowing the establishment of trucking companies based in Greece.
Dimitris Daskalopoulos, chairman of the Greek industrialists’ federation, said: ”Greece should have adopted European practices in this sector years ago ... Liberalisation will create new jobs and sharply reduce transport costs.”
