MAKIS, a gym instructor, counted himself lucky three years ago to land a job in the public sector. The 28-year-old works as a groundsman at a sports complex in Glyfada, a seaside suburb of Athens. Hired on a temporary contract, he expected to make a smooth transition to a permanent post in local government. But times are changing. Greece’s state audit council, which normally rubber-stamps official decisions, unexpectedly ruled this month that municipal employees should be dismissed when their contracts expire.
“That’s it for me, I’ll have to leave and find a job abroad like everyone else,” Makis says, gesturing towards his colleagues: a phalanx of state employees, from rubbish collectors to computer technicians. They are outside Athens’s city hall, protesting against the audit council’s decision.
More upheaval is on the way. On May 18th parliament approved a new package of reforms demanded by the European Union and the IMF, Greece’s bail-out creditors. Sunday shopping...Continue reading
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