Greek Dockers and Mariners Join 24-Hour General Strike Over Inflation

 

Greek dockers and mariners have joined in a 24-hour general strike in Athens, hampering cargo operations at Cosco-run container terminals at the port of Piraeus. 

The Panhellenic Maritime Federation has joined in the strike, implementing a shutdown on coastal shipping beginning at 0001 hours Wednesday. Ro/ro ferry mariners joined in with demonstrations at ramp landing piers, demanding higher wages to keep up with inflation, action to address a housing affordability crisis, and more measures to increase safety. 

"The Greek Seafarers, due to the specificity of the maritime profession, are among the first to face the effects [of inflation] because they are the only ones who, in the best case, work five to six months a year in order to live for themselves and their families them throughout the year," emphasized the Panhellenic Maritime Federation said in a statement. 

The Union of Cargo Handling of the Piers at Piraeus put out a call for all workers to join the strike at 0600 in the harbor, and to join a mass rally at the Piraeus Municipal Theater later in the morning. According to coordinating group Athens People's Rally, dockers stopped work at the Cosco Pier II and Pier III container terminals at Piraeus.

According to union GSEE, Greek workers' purchasing power has fallen by eight percent since 2019 due to inflation. The union called for increasing wages, restructuring the country's collective bargaining rules, and increasing government investment in public housing. 

Teachers, hospital workers, metro train and bus drivers and other public-sector workers joined the general strike, which attracted an estimated 12,000 people in central Athens and 5,000 more in Thessaloniki. The action was timed to coincide with the government's submission of its 2025 budget to the Greek parliament, and intended to influence budgetary decisions.