Greek general strike - Thessaloniki 8th July 2010

Greek general strike - Thessaloniki 8th July 2010, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

About 3-4000 protesters marched through the centre of Thessaloniki , Greece today to demonstrate against government plans to radically reduce pensions and social benefits.

Greeks demonstrate against bus price hike - Thessaloniki, Greece

Greek demonstrate against bus price hike - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greek anti-austerity protests turn violent

Greek anti-austerity protests turn violent, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greeks protest during independence day celebration

Greeks protest during independence day celebration, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greek general strike 2010 - Thessaloniki

Greek general strike 2010 - Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Thousands of Greeks have taken to the streets to show their rejection of the government's proposed austerity measures, which are supposed to right the country's flailing economy. Our Observer in Thessaloniki was in the middle of the protest there, along with his camera.

Craig Wherlock is a British expat based in Thessaloniki. He's a teacher at a private school.

I think there were between eight and nine thousand people in the streets [7,000 according to the police]. Unlike in Athens however, there were no clashes here.
The marchers were mainly public sector workers as their unions, like the PAME [communist], are the most active. But there were also employees from the private sector amongst them. Everybody's worried about the wage freeze, cuts to social benefits, an increase in VAT (from 19% to 21%) and the changing of the legal retirement age (currently 60 for women, 65 for men, but could be set at 67 for all).

People are really angry and feeling desperate. Most shop workers and even small factory employees aren't registered and therefore have no social security. They work up to 50 or 60 hours per week for only 600 euros a month [Read Craig's previous post on the high costs and low wages in Greece].

So they're wondering how the country managed to amount 300 billion euros of debt - what was that money spent on? Certainly not, they say, on public services or roads. The protestors have the impression that politicians robbed the country blind. With the former government, there was a corruption scandal every two months. So talk of wasted money is still rife. The former health minister ordered 16 million doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine, but only 400,000 were needed in the end.

I saw the slogan ‘plutocracy should pay for the crisis' - which pretty much sums up the feelings of the protestors."

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100224-greek-demonstrators-say-plutocracy-should-pay-crisis-austerity-plan

Protesters demand better treatment of immigrants in Greece

Protesters demand better treatment of immigrants in Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Stop police violence in Copenhagen - protest outside the Danish consulate - Thessaloniki, Greece

Stop police violence in Copenhagen - protest outside the Danish consulate - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

A personal protest over the violent and illegal policing of the Copenhagen Climate Conference by Danish police who seem unable to remember where exactly they left their copy of the country's constitution. Thanks to Asteris, Eleni and Orhan for their support.

Read more here

Protests continue in Greece

STAGE workers demonstrating., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Today there were several protests in Thessaloniki and despite the pouring rain people marched through the centre over loss of jobs, lack of funding in education and in support of those arrested in mass detentions by the police on Sunday and Monday.

Also in between lessons and photography I was interviewed by France 24 over the background to the latest events here in Greece. They were especially interested in the possible social effects of the country's borrowing difficulties.

See here for the story.

STAGE workers demonstrate - Thessaloniki, Greece

STAGE workers demonstrate - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Nearly a 1000 employees with the state run Stage work experience program demonstrated in the centre of Thessaloniki protesting the new government's decision to not to give them permanent contracts.

STAGE workers demonstrate outside ex-ministry of Macedonia and Thrace

Workers in the STAGE program protest outside the ex - ministry of Macedonia and Thrace.

STAGE workers demonstrate outside ex-ministry of Macedonia and Thrace, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Residents of Sykies protesting ahead of a court case over mobile phobe base stations in their neighbourhood.

Protest march in support of Thodoris Iliopoulos - Thessaloniki, Greece

Protest march in support of Thodoris Iliopoulos - Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Thodoris Iliopoulos (Θοδωρής Ηλιόπουλος) is in his 45th day of continuing hunger strike. His health situation is getting more serious day after day and it begins to become clear that his life is in danger.

It is a pressing need to allow Thodoris Iliopoulos to be taken care of in a hospital. Thodoris Iliopoulos is currently monitored only by routine clinical examinations (sugar, pressure and weight measurements) while we are still in waiting to learn about his health from the still-unavailable results of his 3 August medical examinations!

His doctor, Specialist Pathologist Eleni Kakalou (Ελένη Κάκαλου) requests his transfer to a hospital. She says, after she examined Thodoris Iliopoulos today in Korydalos Prison:

“It is a very serious matter because he is not in a setting that his health can be monitored effectively, and at this moment his life is at risk. He has no strength, walking with difficulty to reach the doctor’s office or to use the telephone, and he is in pain and seized with cramps. In a few days his life will be in real danger, as with 18% weight loss there have been deaths in similar cases. Thodoris is very close to reaching this weight loss!”

The prison administration, not paying attention to the seriousness of the case, refuses to trasnfer him into a hospital, even though it’s only the prison administration that has the responsibility for maintaining Thodoris Iliopoulos' health, as his counsel N. Mavidis (Ν. Μαβίδης) says.

SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT FOR THODORIS ILIOPOULOS

(ΠΡΩΤΟΒΟΥΛΙΑ ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗΣ ΣΤΟ ΘΟΔΩΡΗ ΗΛΙΟΠΟΥΛΟ)

www.apofylakisithodoriiliopoulou.blogspot.com/

thodoris_iliopoulos.prtvl.all@hotmail.com

Translator’s note: Translated from Greek to English; there may be some mistakes. Feel free to fix or improve the translation, as well as post it elsewhere. Note that there’s an online petition regarding Thodoris Iliopoulos at petitiononline.com/tokeli41/"

in Greek:

athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=10...

Georgian high school students protest against Russia in Thessaloniki

Georgians protest against Russia in Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I came across these students as they were headed towards to the Russian consulate here in Thessaloniki. The local authorities were taking no chances and about three platoons of riot police were on hand to make sure the 30 odd kids got nowhere near the building.

For more on the background on last year's dispute between Georgia and Russia check out these sites

2008 South Ossetia war (Wiki)

Georgia licks wounds one year on (BBC)

Russia, Georgia commemorate war (Al Jazeera)

New City dress code goes into effect ahead of G20 demo

New City dress code goes into effect ahead of G20 demo, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

How not to look like a banker

City workers are being advised by police to dress down during the G20 summit next week, in case they're targeted by protesters.

The Guardian

For the latest updates on the G20 demonstrations check out the #g20 hash on Twitter and "G20" on blog search engines such as Technorati. These are great resources for anyone who wants to get an impression of what's going on in the streets as well as the news rooms.