Workers cut power to health ministry - The Best from Greece

The health ministry was left without power this morning after power workers cut the electricity supply in a symbolic protest against the government’s property tax.

 

The property tax is being levied through electricity bills. Workers complain that they are not a tax-collecting agency.

 

Trade unionists from Genop-DEI, which represents employees in the state-run Public Power Corporation (DEI), said that it was "unacceptable " that while the state owes the PPC 141m euros, it was at the same time "giving orders for the electricity supply to be cut to the poor, the unemployed and the small-pension earners".

 

In a statement, Genop-DEI said claimed the health ministry owes 3.8m in upaid electricity bills alone.

 

Recent court rulings have said that consumers cannot pay the electricity part of the bill separately. Therefore, if they fail to pay the property tax, the PPC must proceed to cut the power.

 

The company has also ended a practice that allowed people to pay their bills in instalments.

 

Genop said that PPC is owed a total of 856m in unpaid bills, a figure it expects to surge as a result of the imposition of the property tax. (AMNA, Athens News)