GREECE: Strikes See Mass Walk-Outs As Gov't Submits Budget

Mass strikes have taken place across Greece, with teachers, doctors, port and railway workers and construction workers walking out in protest at what trade unions claim are insufficient pay rises in the face of squeezed living standards. The strikes come on the day that the gov't of PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis submits its 2025 budget to parliament. 

• Ekathimerini reports that "Mitsotakis acknowledged on Monday there was room for improvement with regard to wages and GDP per capita and reiterated a call to the EU to help with discrepancies in power prices that he said saw Greeks paying far more than other countries in the bloc."
• With a 10-seat majority in parliament and the next general election not due until spring 2027 at the latest, a single mass strike would appear to pose little threat to the gov't. Nevertheless, should the strikes prove long-lasting it could damage the standing of Misotakis' conservative New Democracy (ND) party further.
• Since the June 2023 election, ND's support has fallen from 40.5% to ~30%. ND may be protected, though, by the collapse of the main opposition far-left SYRIZA. Internal divisions have seen SYRIZA's support fall to single digits. The centre-left PASOK, historically one of Greece's dominant political parties but having spent years in the political wilderness, is looking to challenge ND for primacy, and has risen in polls to around 20% support. 

Chart 1. Greece General Election Opinion Polling, %