Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:02 pm  

Another outrage on the workers of Greece. Athens transport workers were forced back to work with emergency laws after daring to strike when their wages were cut by 20%. Now seamen are being threatened with up to 5 years in prison if they don't end their strike which started because they are owed SIX MONTHS wages!!! Instead of worrying about Mali perhaps we should be sending troops to Greece to liberate them from the tyrannical bankster government currently in control! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21344377

Another outrage on the workers of Greece. Athens transport workers were forced back to work with emergency laws after daring to strike when their wages were cut by 20%. Now seamen are being threatened with up to 5 years in prison if they don't end their strike which started because they are owed SIX MONTHS wages!!! Instead of worrying about Mali perhaps we should be sending troops to Greece to liberate them from the tyrannical bankster government currently in control! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21344377

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:39 pm  

The Greek government should just magic up a bit of money from thin air and then they could pay them.

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:45 pm  

Sandra The Terrorist wrote:

The Greek government should just magic up a bit of money from thin air and then they could pay them.

I can't quite remember the spell, is it "piff,paff,poof", "izzy, wizzy, let's get busy" or "econo-repairum"?

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:48 pm  

How much have the bankers etc been told they will lose from their wages?

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:06 pm  

LeighGionaire wrote: Another outrage on the workers of Greece. Athens transport workers were forced back to work with emergency laws after daring to strike when their wages were cut by 20%. Now seamen are being threatened with up to 5 years in prison if they don't end their strike which started because they are owed SIX MONTHS wages!!! Instead of worrying about Mali perhaps we should be sending troops to Greece to liberate them from the tyrannical bankster government currently in control! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21344377 As I said to the less bright on the Gay Marriage thread - rights are granted by the powerful in good times and can be taken away, especially in bad times. The situation in Greece is life-threatening, so striking would not seem the way to go. Bear in mind that the UK's aggregate indebtedness exceeds Greece's and so we could have a similar situation here soon.

LeighGionaire wrote: Another outrage on the workers of Greece. Athens transport workers were forced back to work with emergency laws after daring to strike when their wages were cut by 20%. Now seamen are being threatened with up to 5 years in prison if they don't end their strike which started because they are owed SIX MONTHS wages!!! Instead of worrying about Mali perhaps we should be sending troops to Greece to liberate them from the tyrannical bankster government currently in control! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21344377 As I said to the less bright on the Gay Marriage thread - rights are granted by the powerful in good times and can be taken away, especially in bad times. The situation in Greece is life-threatening, so striking would not seem the way to go. Bear in mind that the UK's aggregate indebtedness exceeds Greece's and so we could have a similar situation here soon.

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:33 pm  

Dally wrote:

As I said to the less bright on the Gay Marriage thread - rights are granted by the powerful in good times and can be taken away, especially in bad times. The situation in Greece is life-threatening, so striking would not seem the way to go. Bear in mind that the UK's aggregate indebtedness exceeds Greece's and so we could have a similar situation here soon.

Last time I looked, Greece had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 130-odd whereas the UK had a ratio less than 90 (round about average for an EU country, ever-so-slightly less than the Eurozone bloc as a whole).

Has that changed so much that we now exceed Greece?

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:36 pm  

El Barbudo wrote:

Last time I looked, Greece had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 130-odd whereas the UK had a ratio less than 90 (round about average for an EU country, ever-so-slightly less than the Eurozone bloc as a whole).

Has that changed so much that we now exceed Greece?

If you count private as well as public debt I understand that the UK's aggregate indebtedness is larger.

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:38 pm  

Anyone who compares the UK economy to the Greek economy in that way either has no idea what they're talking about or is being deliberately false. Which includes the Chancellor and a decent proportion of the cabinet.

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:39 pm  

Dally wrote:

If you count private as well as public debt I understand that the UK's aggregate indebtedness is larger.

But private debt is good (if not vital) for the economy as long as it is affordable.

Re: Greek Workers Face Jail For Daring To Strike : Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:43 pm  

Him wrote:

Anyone who compares the UK economy to the Greek economy in that way either has no idea what they're talking about or is being deliberately false. Which includes the Chancellor and a decent proportion of the cabinet.

UK aggregate debt is over 500% of GDP - proportionately twice as large as Greece's. (Source: Haver Analytics). So, yes, it would be false to compare us with Greece. If you build in the unfunded state obligations, we are indebted to the tune of 900% of GDP.