Friday, March 27, 2009

riot police v. firesfighters on the streets of Athens - protesting for full-time work - YouTube video (BBC footage, but minus commentary):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9KjySKEOK4
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2 comments:

  1. Golden PastryMarch 27, 2009 at 12:38 PM

    I watched the small clip of the riot. What has been accomplished from this?

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  2. rsrcherMarch 27, 2009 at 7:16 PM

    I have no idea, Golden Pastry...this just happened yesterday! It's actually pretty tangential to my project here, but somewhat interesting in that it seems to be indicative of a somewhat more confrontational (and mass-action worker's solidarity) flavour to disputes with government in Greece.

    This is really a very different kind of conflict than the wider uprising in December that continues to cast flickers and shadows today. From my understanding, the firefighters are demanding that the government ensure that they have full-time employment and better conditions, rather than their current arrangement of working only 8 months of the year - despite the importance and danger of their work. It obviously remains to be seen whether their demonstration and other actions have any effect - though this video does seem to show a remarkably violent reaction from police...though a 1 minute video doesn't give a very in-depth story.

    If you're really interested, there is a longer video that gives more of a narrative account on YouTube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdKtBfQikCI

    ...as I said, I really just added this because it caught my eye, and was tangentially related to my topic!

    What do you think???

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