Unionists at Greek Public Power Company (DEH) picked up this summer’s hottest day to start 48-hour rolling strikes in order to express their disagreement to the break-up and partial privatization of the Greek electricity company. The government will bring the relevant bill to the Parliament on upcoming Thursday and is expected to be voted in July.
“The “Small PPC” plan foresees the splitting of production capacity and clientele from PPC to form a smaller rival company that will be sold to a private investor. It is a politically sensitive issue that has already sparked reaction not just from the opposition but also from within the camp of junior coalition partner PASOK, with several deputies, mostly representing the region of Western Macedonia where the bulk of PPC’s production capacity is located, voicing their objections to the scheme.” (full article ekathimerini)
One unionist told Skai TV this afternoon that the union GENOP-DEH does not disagree with the terms and conditions of the split-up and the privatization.
Ι don’t know if the unionists are right but certainly it is wrong to blackmail the government by putting lives of vulnerable groups of the society like elderly and children at risk to be without electricity on the hot summer days.
Fact is that whether the PPC has debts or it just suffers from mismanagement – like all Greek state enterprises – the electricity prices will go up as of July 2014 and thus for the households consuming 0-800 kWatt, while the prices for commercial use will drop.
