You can't find a taxi. Pharmacies are closed. There's no one at the bank to help you withdraw cash, and forget about shipping stuff out of Pireaus. Strikes, protests and public demonstrations are almost a daily occurrence in Greece, and other than being disruptive to the daily lives of many people (and quite annoying at times), there is an impact that many do not report on or people forget about. And its the toll on local businesses.
While blockades and people blocking access to businesses is always a problem, sometimes violent protesters turn their anger to local shops; often inflicting material damage. Here are some other staggering numbers that might shock you:
- Every day there is a strike or protest down in the central business area of Athens, you can expect local businesses to lose up to 6 million euros in lost revenue. (OUCH!)
- In a two month period when protests were most frequent, businesses in the central business district reported a turnaround loss of nearly 26 million euros.
- Importing and exporting suffers greatly from delays at the country's ports.
While many Greeks support citizen's rights to protest; enough is enough!
DF: Quick note - The next large public protest/strike that wll take place in Greece will be December 10th; when a large private and public union work sector have declared a 24 hour general strike. Cheers!
Athens Plus
In other news:
Taking it to the streets: About ten thousand people march in Athens to commemorate the student uprising which occurred 35 years ago,.
FYROM sues Greece: International Court of Justice in the Hague will hear the case filed against Greece for blocking NATO entry, ...via xinhuanet
posted on Tuesday, November 18