Greece in dire straights

Refinery strikes in Greece ahead of a general strike on October 19, have caused supplies of fuel to drop to a mere 3 days. Everyone is up in arms over still more austerity measures. Also ahead of the "general strike", trash collection services are on strike and garbage mounts in the streets of Athens.

Cars Queue Up For Dwindling Gasoline Supplies

Ekathimerini reports Cars queue up as refineries leave strike open

Greece's oil refineries will continue their strike for “as long as necessary,” the president of the union representing refinery workers said late on Monday, as cars began lining up to fill their tanks at gas stations across the country from the early hours of Tuesday.

Speaking on Skai Television’s “New Files” program, Nikos Orfanos said that a government draft bill to reduce spending in the sector represents a threat to workers’ terms of employment, adding that the new measures are aimed at transforming Greece into a “colony” under the control of foreigners.

Meanwhile, speaking on the same program, gas station owner Giorgos Asmatoglou said that while his sector has not expressed any intention to join the strike that began at midnight on Monday, gas stations will be able to continue serving customers only for another three or four days before they begin running dry.

Garbage Piles Up in Street of Athens

AFP reports Greece hit by new strikes against austerity

New strikes hit Greece on Tuesday as the government finalised talks with its EU-IMF creditors on additional spending cuts to secure payment of a bankruptcy-saving loan.

Civil servants blocked the entrance to several ministries, teachers and municipal staff walked out on their jobs and a key refinery began a protest shutdown ahead of a general strike on October 19.

Hospital workers and prison guards will go on strike later this week while Greece's tax collectors and bank workers plan stoppages next week with lawyers also threatening to join the fray.

Public sector workers are up in arms over pay cuts and government plans to put at least 30,000 on temporary leave this year, on top of cuts imposed last year to rein in a budget deficit five times over the European Union ceiling.

Lawyers, pharmacists, taxi owners and other self-employed professionals are protesting against a parallel deregulation drive to improve the competitiveness of the gridlocked Greek economy, which is in a deep recession.

Another strike by garbage collectors that began last week has left the capital Athens strewn with trash heaps.

These reports show Greece is no longer functional. Should gasoline run out, the entire country may as well shut down.

Source: Global Economic Analysis