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| Europe |
| Greece starts firing civil servants for first time in a century |
| 2013-04-27 |
| Pushed by its European creditors amid its crippling economic crisis, Greece began this week to do something it hasn't done in more than 100 years: fire public-sector workers en masse. Following weeks of tough negotiations with its lenders – the "troika" of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the European Central Bank – the Greek government started laying off public-sector workers in an effort to implement the austerity that the troika has demanded. The first two civil servants were let go on Wednesday under a new law that speeds up the process – one, a policeman, for stealing debit cards, and the other for 110 days of unexcused absence. The mass layoffs were announced last week in a televised address by the Greek prime minister himself, Antonis Samaras. Despite the massive unemployment in Greece, the goal of the government has become the laying off of 180,000 civil servants by 2015. “This is not a human sacrifice," said Prime Minister Samaras. “It’s an upgrading of the public sector and it’s one demand of Greek society.” |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 The left seem to believe that putting bad apples in fresh barrels will cure the bad apple... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2013-04-27 19:17 |
| #3 Barbara, I'm sure that our crooks are just as common but even more protected. We need an anti-graft/corruption campaign like you here about in some of the 3rd world and European countries. The rot is now winning. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2013-04-27 18:36 |
| #2 "one, a policeman, for stealing debit cards, and the other for 110 days of unexcused absence" These 2 clowns should have been fired whether Greece had to cut back or not. And I have no doubt there are the same kinds of crooks "working" in our public sector, too. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara 2013-04-27 18:19 |
| #1 I'll know the US is completely out of money when the government starts doing this instead of hiring more idiots. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2013-04-27 15:42 |