Greek tax officials on strike for last 2 working days of year

Page last updated at 06:42 GMT, Thursday, December 29, 2011 - 11:42 EST

Newser:

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Greek tax officials walked off the job Thursday at the start of a 48-hour strike to protest salary cuts and other austerity measures, as the government struggles to meet revenue targets demanded by the country's international creditors.

Tax offices shut down for the last two working days of the year, prompting hundreds of Greeks on Wednesday to rush to settle last-minute issues before the strike. Many handed over their car license plates, preferring to keep their vehicles off the road rather than paying an increased tax.

Greece has been surviving since May 2010 on multibillion euro rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund after years of government overspending left it with an unsustainable public debt.

In return for the euro110 billion ($144 billion) bailout, the previous Socialist government imposed harsh austerity measures, increasing taxes and retirement ages, cutting pensions and salaries, and suspending tens of thousands of civil servants on reduced pay.

"As a result of the austerity measures putting some tax officers on reduced pay, we have 5,500 fewer tax office jobs," said tax officers' union head Charalambos Nikolakopoulos.

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