(Reuters) About 250 shipyard workers stormed the Greek Defense Ministry in
Athens on Thursday, demanding to be paid their wages and calling for an
audience with the Greek Defense Minister.
The shipyard workers were from the Hellenic Skarmangas shipyard. Furious over not having been paid for six months, they chanted “We want solutions, not layoffs!" according to a Reuters report.
The
protestors forced their way past security guards, and streamed into the
compound. Scuffles broke out between police officers and protestors.
Greek television aired video of police officers beating protestors with
batons, leaving their faces bloodied. There have been reports on Twitter
that 70 protestors have been arrested.
General Mihail Kostarakos
tried to calm the protestors, but departed to a chorus of boos. Defense
Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos was not at the ministry on Thursday.
The
protests come amidst a new series of austerity measures that the Greek
government is enforcing in order to try and curb its spending in the
hopes of winning a new bailout package from the European Union.
The Greek government has also been withholding pay to its contractors in an attempt to save money.
The
Hellenic Skarmangas shipyard mainly works on naval contracts on order
from the Greek government, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Protesters run to escape arrest during clashes with riot police
in the courtyard of the Defence Ministery in Athens.(Reuters / Yannis
Behrakis)
No sign of let-up in protests
Greece has seen persistent
protests ever since it first started receiving bailout packages in 2010,
and the unrest at government austerity measures to keep the country in
the eurozone has only grown. On September 26, around 70,000 people, as
estimated by Reuters, gathered in front of the parliament for the
country’s biggest anti-austerity protest since the new government came
to power in June.
The rally turned violent when protesters lobbed
Molotov cocktails at police, who retaliated by firing teargas at the
demonstrators.
Security forces also reportedly used flashbang
grenades and pepper spray to push protesters back from the parliament
building. According to Greek newspaper Kathimerin, police had been
ordered to refrain from using chemicals against protesters.
Greece
faces a record 24 per cent unemployment rate combined with one third of
their population living below the poverty line. Greeks feel that the
repeated austerity measures have devastated their lives, but any attempt
to steer a new course would cut off the bailout funding, forcing the
government to default on its debt and exit the eurozone in a matter of
months.
A riot policeman kicks protesters trying to escape arrest during a
demonstration in the courtyard of the Defence Ministery in
Athens.(Reuters / Yannis Behrakis)
Shipyard workers face police near the Defense Ministry in Athens.(Reuters / Yannis Behrakis)
