Greek Unions Call for More Strikes

The so-called “mother of all strikes” didn’t stop Greece’s parliament from enacting harsh new austerity measures yesterday, so today labor unions are threatening yet more strikes next week to protest the move. The secretary general of the Adedy civil servant union vowed that the law "will not be implemented," and called for lawmakers’ resignations, the AP reports. "The government has ignored the popular uprising by approving this terrible law," he said. "Our answer is: Get out as fast as you can, there is no place for you in Greece any longer."

The past two days have seen more than 150,000 take to the streets of Athens to oppose the measures, which cut pensions, state salaries, and civil service jobs while narrowing the tax-free threshold and limiting workers’ collective bargaining rights. One Socialist lawmaker objected to that last provision, and was booted out of the party as a result—shrinking Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government to 153 of parliament’s 300 seats. (More austerity measures stories.)