More than 2,000 police, coastguards and firefighters took to the streets of cash-strapped Athens on Friday in protest at pension reforms as the country reeled from a paralysing general strike, according to AFP.
The demonstration came a day after the start of the shut-down that brought 50,000 people out in protest against controversial economic reform measures.
"We protect society. The state betrays us," read banners brandished by some of the protesters, including uniformed officers, Friday. Another protester shouted: "Alexis, why do you kill your people?"
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is planning a fiscal overhaul following a series of massive bailouts the country accepted from its European creditors.
Greece must save 1.8 billion euros from state spending on pensions under a three-year bailout signed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in July.
The demonstratoers are furious at government plans to lower the maximum pension to 2,300 euros ($2,500) per month from 2,700 euros and introduce a new minimum guaranteed basic pension of 384 euros.
Tsipras's leftist administration also wants to merge pension funds and increase social security contributions by both employers and staff.
Critics say the new system penalises those who dutifully pay their pension contributions over a lifetime of work and will encourage undeclared employment.
More than 2,000 police, coastguards and firefighters took to the streets of cash-strapped Athens on Friday in protest at pension reforms as the country reeled from a paralysing general strike, according to AFP.
The demonstration came a day after the start of the shut-down that brought 50,000 people out in protest against controversial economic reform measures.
“We protect society. The state betrays us,” read banners brandished by some of the protesters, including uniformed officers, Friday. Another protester shouted: “Alexis, why do you kill your people?”
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is planning a fiscal overhaul following a series of massive bailouts the country accepted from its European creditors.
Greece must save 1.8 billion euros from state spending on pensions under a three-year bailout signed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in July.
The demonstratoers are furious at government plans to lower the maximum pension to 2,300 euros ($2,500) per month from 2,700 euros and introduce a new minimum guaranteed basic pension of 384 euros.
Tsipras’s leftist administration also wants to merge pension funds and increase social security contributions by both employers and staff.
Critics say the new system penalises those who dutifully pay their pension contributions over a lifetime of work and will encourage undeclared employment.
