Tag Archives: cuts

Greek economic crisis forces more and more people to a life without electricity. Debts and shiccored incomes, unemployment, rising costs. No wonder that people are unable to pay utility bills. And especially the most expensive one: the electricity bill. Apart from the pure electricity amount to be paid for consumption …

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In a last minute action and after pressure from coalition partner PASOK, Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras exempted from pension cuts people with 80% disability. MP Koukoulopoulos had threatened to down vote the austerity package bill, should there be no exception for the heavily disabled. Stournaras said that the 30 million …

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Health in Greece is sick. As sick as the brains of those who take such decisions and force thousands of people to painful death as they deprive them of life-saving medicine. Call it ‘Third Austerity Package’, call it ‘a country in bankruptcy’, call it however you want, fact is: the …

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Greece’s economy, debts, loans and inability to take the problems under control spark fierce discussions not only among the locals like taxpayers and tax-evaders, unionists and unemployed, employees and pensioners, representatives of political parties. Equally involved in the dispute are the country’s international and European creditors, taxpayers around Europe and economists. However …

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Pictures of shame in the heart of the Greek capital: men and women on wheelchairs, blinds with walking sticks. They had to stage a protest rally in order to get an appointment with the Finance Minister. Knowing the famous “Greek reality” one can easily imagine, how they moved from one state …

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Greek state is broke and in need of every penny and cent it can get. Therefore, it cut the poverty-pension to an over-aged widow, when it found out, the home she was living in was in her name. Even though she had  inherited it after her husbands’ death, even though the land-house was …

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It’s the same old Greek story: Employees, pensioners and patients will mainly pay for the Troika austerity measures. A package of 11.5 billion euro for the years 2013-2014 and additional measures of 3 billion euro for 2012 to cover up missed fiscal targets. Employees, pensioners and patients will have to …

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Greece needs to find ways and save – or cut- expenditure of 11.5 billion euro for the years 2013-2014. In continuous meetings between Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras with the political leadership of the ministries, the majority of the ministers were not able to find where exactly they could make the cuts. …

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Drawing plans on sheet papers seem the easy way. IMF’s chief economist Oliver Blanchard said that Greece needs to cut wages in private sector to boost competitiveness. However neither Blanchard nor the other wise-guys, economists or not, seem to be able to answer a simple but practical question: With all …

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Several dozens pensioners symbolically blocked access to insurance funds at the Ippokratio public hospital of Thessaloniki to protest the cuts in the Greek health sector and so-called ‘reforms’ that ofrce them out of their pockets for prescription medication. The pensioners from private sector insurance funds like IKA, Sailor’s Fund (NAT), Self-employed Funds (OAEE) …

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It’s high time that international media start to report about the real hardship Greeks have to deal with each and every day, especially with shortages and cuts in the health care sector. If you consider that due to unemployment several hundred thousand Greeks are without social security the access to health …

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Wherever you sit and stand you will get confronted with private stories and destinies in the Tropic of Greek Austerity.  A huge scissors made of steel cuts salaries, pensions and jobs. Within a single month people see their income vanished and they have to cope with just 550 euro to feed their …

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What can you do in austerity and recession times? Organize yourself ! Unemployed youth of Heraklion in Crete established the first “Jobless Club” with the aim to promote their interests in the local labor market and authorities. One of the major objectives of the association is to meet members of the …

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It seems that slowly Greece’s lenders come more closely to the Greek realities. Apparently the IFM/EU/ECB controllers are deeply frustrated that they wouldn’t hesitate to propose shocking solutions for drastic cuts in public spending. “The situation is deteriorating instead of improving,  tax and customs offices are not able to collect revenues, corruption …

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