Protesting Greek truckers clash with anti-riot police

Striking Greek truckers clashed with anti-riot police yesterday as several hundred protested in front of the Transport Ministry after the government ordered them back to work.

Police used tear gas to disperse the protestors on the fourth day of a strike who were demanding a meeting with Transport Minister Dimitris Reppas, according to an AFP journalist.

The government told the truckers to go back to work under a requistion order on Wednesday over growing concerns about fuel, food and medicine supplies and the impact on Greece’s huge tourism sector at the peak of the season.

Greek news agency ANA said the truckers would meet with Reppas yesterday afternoon after talks on Wednesday with the minister’s deputy broke down.

Truckers are up in arms over plans to liberalise the freight sector.

They say that boosting competition in the freight sector by reducing new licence charges is unfair to existing operators who have already paid high start-up fees running up to €300,000.

The plan is part of a reform plan that the Athens government committed to in May in exchange for a €110-billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

The country has suffered waves of strikes and protests over the unprecedented budget cuts and reforms the government had to agree to in order to tap the IMF-EU money it desper-ately needed to avert default on debts close to €300 billion.