Athens Stockmarket occupied

[FSL]

By PAME members to not allow any transactions today in preparation for tomorrow's general strike. Made my morning.



But mommy! I want to short-sell bank shares!

[bcbm]

look forward to more info!

[AK]

No trading? Gee, that's a shame...

[REVLEFT'S BIEGGST MATSER TROL]

This is fantastic.

[Communist]

.
Protesters blockade Greek stock market (http://www.centredaily.com/2010/02/23/1810434/protesters-blockade-greek-stock.html)

By DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece — Protesters blockaded the Athens Stock Market on Tuesday, on the eve of a general strike, as the leader of Greece's largest labor union warned the government's fiscal austerity measures could lead to an "eruption" in unemployment.

http://media.centredaily.com/smedia/2010/02/23/04/777-778Greece_Financial_Crisis.sff.embedded.prod_affil iate.42.jpg

A demonstrator looks on behind a banner as Members of the Communist-affiliated PAME labor group have blockaded the Athens Stock Market to protest government austerity measures aimed at tackling Greece's debt crisis in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. The blockade occurred ahead of a 24-hour general strike called by the country's main unions, which is set to halt public services and ground flights, adding to Europe's airline travel disruption caused by walkouts elsewhere.

About 100 protesters from a union backed by the Greek Communist Party staged the blockade, but stock market officials said the exchange was still running through online trading. Police did not intervene to end the protest.

The incident was the latest sign of growing labor opposition to the Socialist government's plans for tougher spending cuts to cope with a debt crisis that has affected confidence in the euro as a common currency.

On Wednesday, the country's main unions will stage a 24-hour general strike that is set to halt public services and ground flights, adding to Europe's airline travel disruption caused by walkouts elsewhere.

Yiannis Panagopoulos, leader of Greece's largest labor union, the GSEE, warned that cuts that lead to a loss of income for wage-earners would push the country deeper into recession.

"There is already a surge in unemployment, and I fear there will be an eruption in levels of (joblessness in 2010) that will really cause social shock waves," Panagopoulos told the AP in an interview.

Greek unemployment hit a five-year high of 10.6 percent in November 2009, up from 9.8 percent in October.

"The Greek people are well aware that the fiscal situation of the country is in terrible shape ... But the measures are not fair. We demand a fair distribution of the burden so that wage-earners and pensioners do not pay the price for a crisis they did not create," Panagopoulos said.

"What people must realize is that Greece is being used as a pingpong ball in an international game of speculators and geopolitical interests who are targeting the euro ... But people's needs are much more important that those of the markets."

The European Union says Athens must start improving its public finances by a March 16 deadline or be ordered to make more cuts. Officials from the EU and the International Monetary Fund began inspections at the Finance Ministry Tuesday.

Greece's government has imposed hiring and salary freezes along with bonus cuts in the civil service, as well as consumer tax hikes and reductions to government spending.

It has promised to take tougher measures if needed to slash the budget deficit from a projected 12.7 percent last year to 8.7 in 2010. It insists Greece is not seeking financial aid from the European Union but some form of support to borrow money at cheaper rates on the international market - blaming high Greek bond spreads on speculation against the euro.

AP Television's Srdjan Nedeljkovic contributed to this report.

[the last donut of the night]

The fact that the police chose NOT to disrupt the PAME-backed blockade, in my opinion, seems like a sign that the Greek state is becoming more and more threatened by the labor opposition. May only good come out of this. Good luck to Greek comrades.

[Joe_Germinal]

No trading? Gee, that's a shame...

This protest is certainly an impressive display and a welcome move; but we shouldn't be too terribly overjoyed. According to the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8530273.stm), the PAME only blockaded the main entrance and trading on the exchange was unaffected.

A fact which goes a long way to explaining this:


The fact that the police chose NOT to disrupt the PAME-backed blockade, in my opinion, seems like a sign that the Greek state is becoming more and more threatened by the labor opposition.

[Red Commissar]

The fact that the police chose NOT to disrupt the PAME-backed blockade, in my opinion, seems like a sign that the Greek state is becoming more and more threatened by the labor opposition. May only good come out of this. Good luck to Greek comrades.

There might have also been the fact that since the traders continued their activities electronically, there was no real "damage" done.

Though obviously the police being a public institution do feel threatened by the possibility of cuts in public spending.

[redwog]

This is still an important symbol of what is emerging as an important moment for working class struggle.

In a certain sense, Greece is the test case for what may happen across Europe, so the entire western ruling class - particularly those in the EU will be watching closely I imagine.

It will be interesting to see who emerges as the grouping or milieu who provides the organic/spontaneous leadership as the struggle develops.

I look forward to the general strike and communicate friendship, love and solidarity to the multitude fighting in Greece.

[ls]

A great action, but it seemed a little too good to be true, nonetheless it was my own fault for not reading the WWP article carefully enough, still the OP is pretty misleading.