Greek teachers announce strike plans

Greek teachers have announced plans to stage a series of new strikes in protest against job transfers and layoffs.

The announcement of the five-day strikes are to start next Monday to protest demands made by Greece’s international creditors.

The Greek Education Ministry is planning to redeploy nearly 3,500 secondary school educators teaching non-priority subjects such as art, foreign languages, music, and theatre, to primary schools or administrative positions.

The Olme teachers’ union says that the transfers are a “major blow” to secondary education.

As part of a general restructuring of the public sector, Athens has agreed to put some 12,500 civil servants on a redeployment scheme by the end of the month.

On September 8, thousands of people took to the streets in protest against austerity measures, despite the Greek government’s talk of the economy’s improvement.

Greece was severely hit by recession in 2008 due to fiscal mismanagement resulting in tax rises and spending cuts.

The country has witnessed three years of austerity policies imposed the government in a bid to win bailout loans from international creditors, including the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.

Greece’s unemployment rate stands at more than double the eurozone’s average reading of 12.1 percent. Nearly one in four Greeks are unemployed.