Protests and strikes in Greece in connection with train crash
2023.03.08 09:12
Protests and strikes in Greece in connection with train crash
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – On Wednesday, workers in Greece staged a day-long nationwide walkout in response to the country’s deadliest train accident. Tens of thousands of people marched in protest.
The crash on February 28 resulted in the deaths of 57 people and sparked public outrage over the failing rail network. According to the workers on strike, Greece’s decade-long debt crisis is to blame for years of neglect, underinvestment, and inadequate staffing.
In the center of Athens, more than 40,000 people marched chanting “Murderers!” among them transportation workers, students, and teachers. additionally, “We are all in the same carriage.”
When protesters and police got into a fight, the police used tear gas on the crowd.
In Greece’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, thousands of people also took to the streets, where a group of protesters threw stones at a government building. The nationwide strike that was called by workers in a variety of industries lasted for 24 hours in conjunction with the protests.
Around 350 people were on an intercity passenger train that collided head-on with a freight train on the same track. Many of them were college students traveling north from Athens to Thessaloniki.
Greece has seen a week of protests as a result of the disaster.
A sign in Athens read, “Message me when you get there,” echoing one of the protest slogans.
“The fact that the government did nothing for all of those children makes you angry. Nikomathi Vathi, who is 19 years old, said, “The public transportation is a mess.”
Vaggelis Somarakis, a different student, stated, “We’re going to be here until things change.” We are this nation’s youth, and we will not stop.”
The ailing railway system would be fixed on Wednesday, according to a promise made by the conservative government, which had initially planned to call elections in the coming weeks.
At a news conference, Transport Minister George Gerapetritis said that he understood the outrage the accident had caused.
He apologised for Greece’s deadliest rail accident in history, saying, “No train will set off again if we have not secured safety at the maximum possible level.”
Rail laborers have organized rolling, 24-hour strikes since Thursday, stopping the organization. The service was also suspended on Wednesday by the government while it looked into safety.
The workers claim that their requests for enhanced safety procedures have gone unheard for years and have pledged to “impose safety” in order to prevent future accidents.
The main railroad workers’ union stated, “We have an obligation towards our fellow humans and our colleagues who were lost in the tragic accident.”
The 24-hour strike was carried out by ADEDY, Greece’s largest public sector union. In solidarity, employees of city transportation went on strike, disrupting bus, metro, and tram services in the capital. Seamen took part in the labor action while ships remained docked at ports.
A statement from a teachers’ union stated, “It’s not the time to fall silent.”
The government, whose term ends in July, says that human error and flaws that haven’t been fixed for decades are to blame for the crash.
Gerapetritis, one of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ closest allies, has been given the portfolio. Gerapetritis stated that if safety concerns are resolved, rail passenger services could resume by the end of March.
In addition to promising to provide insight into the crash’s causes, he stated that funds would be invested in infrastructure enhancement and staff recruitment.
Later on Wednesday, Gerapetritis was scheduled to meet with transport experts from the European Commission, which has stated that it will provide technical support.
During Greece’s debt crisis in 2017, Greece sold Hellenic Train, its state-owned railway operator, to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. The country’s bailout agreements with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, both based in Washington, stipulated the sale.
