Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-11-12

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Workers' rally calls for better job market

[01] Workers' rally calls for better job market

Joining the call to action by the Workers Front for Struggle, protesters asked for full employment and steady jobs, a seven-hour working day and five-day working week, a minimum monthly wage of 1,300 euros, and unemployment benefit at 80% of minimum salaries.

Other demands were a retirement age of 55 for women and 60 for men, abolition of health contributions, abolition of private education, and a social insurance system run solely by the state.

A member of the protest group's executive, George Mavrikos, charged that workers were coming under attack from the government's economic policy, which had brought joblessness, mass redundancies, austerity, poverty and privatisation.

Also responsible for social and economic ills was a European Union strategy that favoured a wealthy elite and oppressed workers, Mavrikos added.

Demonstrators handed a list of their demands to parliament.

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