Sunday, April 20, 2008

Beaten for demanding a three euro pay rise

Immigrant farm workers seeking a rise of three euros a day were attacked and in some cases beaten in Nea Manolada, Greece. The demand for the daily wage to be raised from 22 to 25 euros provoked violent confrontations between local farmers and the mainly immigrant work force in the town which produces 90% of the Greece's strawberry crop. In addition there were violent clashes between land owners and activists with the Greek trade union, PAME and members of KKE (Greek Communist Party) who were organising protests.


In a report in the Eleutherotypia newspaper also made note of the fact that the farm workers live in four shanty towns paying 100 -150 euros each for shacks, most of which have no access to electricity or running water. Forced to live in ghettos the newspaper also mentioned that workers also have restrictions placed on their movements as the camps are surrounded by barbed wire and spotlights.


Many of the children of the farm workers do not attend school, but rather work alongside their parents in the field according to a report by the newspaper. Without access to education or medical treatment those working in Nea Manolada are also victims of the local authorities according to an investigation by the the internal affairs department of the Greek police force with members of the local council involved with scams that allow land owners to sell workers for 300 to 500 euros paperwork that allow them to apply for residence permits.



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