English• The weekly schedule of Greek strikes
Greece has set a weekly schedule of strikes. Last week, Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos called to the unions to stop playing with fire and to show common sense.
Popular discontent has increased, in particular among civil servants and other employees of the state owned sector, with strikes in the public transportation and public administration, while ministry sit-ins by civil servants affected by the new wage cuts seems to have become almost the norm. On Friday, the Greek capital was deprived of any type of public transportation, while taxis had also been on strike for 4 hours. This situation caused chaos on the streets filled with dirt and uncollected garbage due to the garbage collectors" strike which has been going on for more than ten days.
• MONDAY
State media are to continue strike action until Thursday. The Panhellenic Seafarers Association"s strike until Tuesday will affect all ferry services. Lawyers are continuing to strike until Wednesday. Customs employees walk off the job for 24 hours. Tax office, Social Security Foundation (IKA) and local authority employees continue rolling 48-hour strikes.
• TUESDAY
Railway workers start a three-day strike, until Thursday, affecting the Proastiakos suburban rail and the metro service to Athens Airport. Journalists hold a 24-hour strike. Port workers start a 48-hour strike.
• WEDNESDAY
The country"s main labor unions, GSEE and ADEDY, begin a 48-hour strike. There will be no flights or taxis. Retail stores and banks will remain closed as well.
• THURSDAY
No flights or taxis, with public transport also likely to be disrupted as industrial action by GSEE and ADEDY continues.
• "Occupy Wall Street", from a few dozens to tens of thousands of people
Protests, which began all over the world on Saturday, have continued in cities such as Frankfurt, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Toronto, London.
The authorities seem to be disregarding the "Occupy Wall Street" protests, which may hint that this movement is currently in its second stage of the slogan it is running under: "At first they ignored us; then they laughed at us; after that they negotiated with us; in the end we won!"
Thousands of people all over the world participated in protest meetings, when they accused bankers and politicians that they have destroyed the economies of the world.
Major protests took place in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch (New Zealand), Sydney (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), Manila (Philippines), Taipei (Taiwan), Paris (France), Rome (Italy), Madrid (Spain), Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt (Germany), Zurich (Switzerland), London (Great Britain), Vienna (Austria), Helsinki (Finland), Athens (Greece), Brussels (Belgium), New York (SUA).
Most of the protests were peaceful, except for the protests of Rome, which were attended by tens of thousands of people, and the march which spread over several kilometers ended up with clashes between young men and the police.
United for Global Change, the main website of the international movement, announced that 951 cities in 82 countries participated in the protests held over the weekend.
The "Occupy Wall Street" action began about one month ago in New York, in the financial district, with organizers saying that their protests against the influence of money in the American policy and the unfair actions of the financial systems were modeled after the wave of revolts in the Arab countries.
Saturday night, around 71 people were arrested in New York, in the notorious Times Square, following a protest against Wall Street in which thousands of people participated. In Washington, thousands of people rallied to protest the greed of "financiers", for " jobs and justice".
Approximately 300 protesters gathered before the White House and the Treasury to protest against "the financial mafia", and subsequently joined another group of protesters.
Canada also saw its shares of protests. Approximately 10,000 Canadians gathered with banners and guitars in the financial district of Toronto.
In Europe, serious fights broke in Rome, where there were 70 wounded people, of which three severely so, on the occasion of the meeting which was attended by tens of thousands of people.
In Athens, thousands of protesters gathered before the Parliament.
In Portugal, approximately 50,000 people of all ages marched in Barcelona.
In Madrid, tens of thousands of people went towards Puerta del Sol, the square where many protesters have been staying for a month.
In London, about 800 protesters gathered in the City and received the unexpected welcome of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julien Assange, who lives nearby.
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• EU and European Commissions presidents say that they understand the motivation of the protesters
EU president Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, expressed their understanding of the protesters, and said that the financial sector would need to get more involved in the anti-crisis measures. "I understand the frustration of the protesters, which is, for the most part, the consequence of what is happening in the financial sector", Barroso said.
"We have nothing against the financial sector, we want it to remain solid in Europe, but at the same time, they have to understand that they need to abide by a minimum set of ethical criteria", said Barroso, who urged the financial sector to contribute more for the good of everyone.
In the same vein, EU president said it was "understandable" that the austerity measures implemented in many countries were not popular. Van Rompuy said that "the concerns of those young people on growth and employment are totally legitimate".
He said that steps must be taken to ensure that efforts are redistributed in a fairer manner.
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