StopCartel TV broadcasts live from Athens, Greece weeknights @ 6 pm Athens time. The following post is a loose transcript of the 11 September 2012 broadcast.
By greydogg and snake arbusto, 99GetSmart
- Why Germany wants Greece in the Eurozone
Faced with the dilemma of kicking Greece out or keeping Greece in the Eurozone, Germany currently appears to be leaning towards the second option, for fear of a possible “domino effect” that could lead to the collapse of the Eurozone.
Such is the cause of the change in attitude of Berlin according to the propaganda in a recent Washington Post article, “As Germany rises, Frau Nein says, ‘Yes’”
As Germany rises? That ought to give everyone a chill up the spine.
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- On the eve of a new mammoth recapitalization of banks, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras announced that they have accepted the opinion of the State Legal Council (no. 386/2012) concerning the obligation of credit institutions to pay the Greek government an annual fixed return on the preference shares issued to increase the share capital and underwritten by the government at 10% of the contributed capital (Law 3723/2008).
In 2012, the State adopted a decision from the first stimulus package in 2008 and will give the banks Greek public money – commissions on shares of contributed capital.
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- The Troika’s clerks will engage in another round of meetings with Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis on Wednesday in Athens. At Tuesday’s meeting, the loan sharks from the Troika upped their demands for changes to labor regulations.
According to ekathimerini:
These requests included scrapping the eight-hour working day and allowing employers to ask staff to work up to 78 hours a week. The only restriction in terms of working hours is that employees should be allowed a minimum of 11 hours of rest between shifts or working days.
The Troika has also reportedly asked for a reduction in the period of redundancy* notice that employers have to give, thereby cutting the total compensation payment due in half. The current notice period is four to six months.
The inspectors also asked for the retirement age to rise by two years to 67, following the last rise in 2010. The Troika reportedly want the increased limit to be effective immediately – meaning that workers who were due to retire next year could have to wait another two years. This measure is estimated to save 1 billion euros.
The government had planned for about 5 billion euros of the 11.5 billion euros in spending cuts the Troika is demanding to come from reductions in wages, pensions and welfare benefits, but this number is now set to exceed 6 billion.
* ‘redundancy’ is a euphemism for dismissal [ed.]
More from Athens News:
“Pension at age 67, in order to save 1 billion euros” declared Eleftheros Typos’s headline. It also reported that the Troika wants to fire (rather than transfer) employees whose agencies are abolished or merged with other bureaus.
“Declare [your income], pay [your taxes] and save!” proclaimed Ethnos’s headline. “Those who hid assets on their tax returns can keep them if they come clean and pay a tax of between 5-10 percent,” the report said.
“All the measures on the table” read ekathimerini’s headline, which sounded like a thinly veiled threat of war (against the middle class). That is exactly what it was, as the story announced even bigger pension cuts, hikes in the retirement age, and layoffs in state and local government.
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- The country’s main labor federations, GSEE and ADEDY, will begin a 48-hour strike on Wednesday. There will be no flights or taxis. Public transportation is likely to be disrupted. Retail stores and banks will remain closed, as well.
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- According to a daily newspaper, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis is expected to announce his proposal on new labor regulations to the Troika’s lead auditor. On the table for discussion are the issues of minimum wages in the private sector, redundancy* or retirement, and the “flexibility” of working time.
* ‘redundancy’ is a euphemism for dismissal [ed.]
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- Fuel prices make life unbearable for citizens
SYRIZA, Greece’s main opposition party, issued the following statement concerning the skyrocketing fuel prices in Greece:
“The citizens of the country are watching developments in fuel prices with despair. It is another serious issue which is making their lives unbearable. The same despair applies to businesses. It is particularly intensive because it makes normal business operations highly problematic with ever-increasing fuel prices.”
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- The Greek government-of-the-regime is preparing to lease 40 uninhabited islands. Andreas Taprantzis, the Executive Director for the Greek Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund said, “We identified locations that have good terrain, are close to the mainland and have a well-developed infrastructure and, at the same time, pose no threat to national security. Current legislation doesn’t allow us to sell them outright and we don’t want to.
Legislation needs to be passed to allow development of public property by third parties and reduce the number of building, environmental and zoning permits needed before the plan can proceed.
Outright sales have been ruled out because the returns for the Greek state wouldn’t be higher than a leasehold arrangement. Greece will attract more investment if an island is turned into a resort.”
The fund is charged with raising 50 billion euros from state assets by 2020 to meet the terms of the Memorandum.
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- From ekathimerini:
A 44-year-old police officer who had been assigned to the personal guard of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) MP Costas Barbarousis has been suspended from work and is facing expulsion from the force after it emerged that he played an active role in the far-right group’s raid on an open-air market Mesolongi, western Greece, on Saturday.
Police sources confirmed that the officer, identified just by his initials D.M., had been spotted in a video of the incident that was posted on the Internet. The officer is seen in a group of Golden Dawn supporters led by Barbarousis as they walked through a market, where they attacked stalls operated by migrants. The 44-year-old, who served at the Aitolia precinct, is also seen arguing with a woman who objected to the men’s behavior. [...]
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