Sellers and producers at open-air markets so called farmers’ markets will launch a nationwide strike on January 7 with indefinite end. Professionals complain about the high prices and taxation.
The mobilization concerns thousands of vendors and farmers who operate in the country’s open-air markets and is a joint decision of all stakeholders, unions and federations.
The coordinated action of all stakeholders highlights the seriousness of the situation faced by workers in open-air markets.
Why are the open-air markets closing?
According to the Confederation’s announcement, the mobilization is a necessary action against policies that increase the cost of transporting products. Although producers and self-employed farmers offer their products at affordable prices, the burdens at each stage of the chain make their operation difficult. The open-air market stakeholders declare that they stand in solidarity with the agricultural mobilizations and support the demands of the primary sector.
Main demands of the strike
Farmers’ market professionals are demanding specific changes that will facilitate their operation:
• Addressing the inaccuracy that affects open-air markets
• Substantial support for farmers by reducing production costs
• Abolition of the implicit taxation system
• Withdrawal of the recently imposed 10% surcharge
• Revision of the electronic dispatch note
• Amendments to Law 4849/2021 that creates problems in daily operation
The indefinite strike at the open-air markets is a clear message in every direction, as the bodies involved emphasize. Open-air markets function as a support for households, farmers and consumers, offering products at affordable prices.
“This mobilization is a one-way street. Despite the fact that the producer and the self-employed farmer sell their product at a low price, the policies followed increase the cost at every stage of distribution,” according to the announcement of the Confederation.
The indefinite strike at open-air markets comes as farmers, livestock breeders and other sectors of the country’s primary production sector have been protesting the government policies with roadblocks throughout Greece since November 30, 2025.
