Greece to cut 15,000 jobs for bailout

Greek lawmakers have passed a bill that will clear the way for 15,000 civil servants to be fired by the end of the next year to secure another 8.8 billion euros in bailout funds.

According to AFP, the Greek parliament approved the bill by 168 votes to 123 on Sunday.
As legislators debated the measures inside parliament, several hundred demonstrators vociferously opposed the bill outside the parliament. They took part in a protest called by the civil service trade confederation, Adedy, and the private sector GSEE union.
They were demonstrating against what the unions called “those politicians who are dismantling the public service and destroying the welfare state.”
Critics say the law, which is part of a larger package of measures, will only add to Greece’s record unemployment rate of 27 percent.
They say many of those who will lose their jobs are older workers already struggling to support their families and make ends meet.
Under the new law, some 2,000 civil servants will lose their jobs by the end of June, another 2,000 by the end of the year, and a further 11,000 by the end of 2014.
Greece t would see 150,000 state jobs go by the end of 2015.