UNISONActive is an unofficial blog produced by UNISON activists for UNISON activists. Bringing news, briefings and events from a progressive left perspective.

Saturday 4 May 2013

Austerity imposed unlawfully on Greece

Professor Keith Ewing argues that the ECB/EU/IMF Troika have shown "a contempt for legality and an indifference to legal obligations" in imposing austerity measure as a condition for offering Greece financial support. He cites the destruction of "an entire collective bargaining system in Greece" and the enforcement of public sector pay cuts and wage reductions - as contrary to a treaty signed by the EU in 2008 and Greece's own constitutional rulings on managing labour relations. "The impact in Greece has been devastating, the consequences greater than on any other EU country and the impact on the national labour law system has been so dramatic that it requires some kind of legal response. Who has the right to determine the constitutional structures of a sovereign state? That's what's at issue in Greece"
http://www.ier.org.uk/blog/greek-austerity-illegal-says-uk-professor