The Greek government has treated a group of Greek citizens unfairly. The Greek citizens protest. The Greek government then says if you protest we will take legal action. The Greek government is morally bankrupt. The Greek government’s solution to the problems it faces is…
physical force, like the school bully or the tyrannic dictator. If this were a disagreement between 2 neighbours the most obvious solution would be a negotiation and indeed the Greek courts would also encourage a negotiated settlement.
If one of the neighbours were to physically imprison and/or steal from the other for protesting against his actions he would rightly be brought to justice. But the Greek government, like most governments do not act like a reasonable person.
The Athens News article says Already, local prosecutors in Athens and other major cities have launched ex officio preliminary investigations to determine whether the crimes of transportation obstruction and passenger travel disruption were committed.
Case files have been put together and prosecutors do not rule out confiscation of taxicabs if strikers continue the blockade action. (ANA)
Of course what prosecuters do not say is, is that it does not matter if the taxi drivers have broken the law or not. It is irrelevant. The only people who can say that the taxi drivers are guilty are their peers, their fellow citizens. Whether the prosecuters like it or not, their duty is to the citizens of Greece and if the citizens of Greece support the actions of their fellow taxi driving citizens then the state has no place to intervene.
The politicians and “public prosecuters” are there to represent the people of Greece and to work in their best interests. If the public opnion in Greece is behind the actions of the taxi drivers then the public prosecuters should be brought up on charges for wasting public money in a cause that is against the public interest.
Of course all this assumes that the state “allows” any prosection to get as far as a jury trial. As I have said before I do not believe there is a jury in the land of Greece that would declare the actions of the taxi drivers as illegal. The taxi drivers have just cause to act as they are and public opinion should support them.
If this is the way the Greek government deals with civil disobedience, by crushing it like a ant under a shoe then it is not only the taxi drivers that should be worried about their future.
The Greek government has shown it is prepared to use massive police violence to disperse protests in Athens. They Greek government is now showing that it is prepared to not only destroy a persons investments but also seize a persons assets if the person does not bend over to the might of “The State”.
It is telling that A statement by the Exporters’ Association of Northern Greece (Seve) underlined that the extreme forms of protest, such as the taxi owners’ strike, further downgrade Greece’s image abroad and cancel out the efforts made by healthy enterprises in the country to reverse the negative international atmosphere.
Seve called on the strikers to realise the gravity of the situation and seek other ways to solve their problems, stressing that the government should make all efforts to bring the situation back to normal.
Meanwhile, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (Sete) requested the intervention of Supreme Court prosecutor Ioannis Tentes to put an end to the blockade of airports, seaports, motorways, public buildings etc by striking taxi owners.
Of course they have a point, the taxi drivers are effecting tourism. But the telling theme to the statement is that this agency is putting the full responsibility of the taxi strike at the feet of the taxi drivers. The SEVE do not mention how they believe that the government should also come to the negotiation table.
The government created the problem by restriciting the number of taxi licenses in the first place and then after the market has settled to work within the rules set by the government, the government then changes the rules completely and expects the Greek people to simply take it and not to ask any questions or to protest! The taxi drivers obviously can’t ask questions because the government is refusing to negotiate.
In my opnion instead of SETE blaming the taxi drivers for the strike they should join them. SETE should acknowledge that the government has forced the taxi drivers into this position. At the end of the day people do not elect not to earn money indefintely lightly, especially when they have a family to feed.
The government should acknowledge the seriousnesse of the sitaution they have created and re think their actions and not compound the problem further by wasting money they do not have on spurious and cruel legal actions.
SETE should be asking why is the government not negotiating with these people. It is obvious that the measures they have implemented are not fair or moral. Why is the government not sitting down with the taxi drivers to resolve the situation. Why is the Greek government not helping us by tyring to sort out this problem peacefully
As I have said from the first article, I believe the Greek taxi industry should be deregulated, that restrictions on the number of cabs should be removed. But the process should be done gradually to alow the maket to react.
SETE should remember that today the Greek government is attacking the taxi industry tomorrow SETE members could be the target of government actions.
In summary, the Greek need to stick together in the face of this govenrment oppression. Regardless of if they agree with the specific issue or not. The Greek people in general are under attack from international bankers now but they should remember that today the taxi drivers are being specifically targeted tomorrow it could be them. I know it’s an obvious thing to say but the Greek need to put themselves if the shoes of their neighbour.
“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
— by Martin Niemöller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor,
It is very sad dat strikes r becoming common in 2day’s world.