Professors Continue Strikes Despite Gov't Orders To Reopen Universities

Main building of the National Technical University of Athens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Heading into its 11th week, professors from various universities in Athens are continuing with their protests against a government overhaul of the civil service, at a time when rifts are appearing between the management and the academic leadership.

Specifically, the employees at Athens University and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) decided to hold rolling 48-hour strikes, starting from Tuesday, despite the warnings they received by the Minister of Education Mr. Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos who noted that the walkout is sabotaging the studies of thousands of students. The professors are protesting over their induction into the labor mobility scheme which will see them either being transferred to other areas in public service where there are shortages, or on the unemployment line if the information in their CVs has been falsified.

In simple words, the university staffs do not want the government to begin snooping on its credentials, and this alone should concern all of us. In this strike, they don't even have the backing of the students since they too have already appealed for the institutions to reopen because they fear of losing the first semester of the academic year.

News reports that have been following the story claim that the government will end up issuing a civil mobilization order in the framework of forcing the employees at the universities to return to work, (final decision to be taken on Wednesday).

The University that has protested strongly to the new measures is the Athens University. So much so, that all members of the institution’s senate have apparently resigned in protest to the prospect of police entering the faculty grounds in coming days and at the publication of the names of the administrative staff who have been inducted into a mobility scheme of transfers and layoffs. Earlier on Monday, the university administrators blocked the entrance to the University of Athens campus on Olof Palme Street, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) on Katechaki Avenue, the Athens Law School on Massalias and the Athens Medical School on Mikras Asias since 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

On Monday night, the situation worsened after all members of the institution’s senate resigned, protesting the prospect of police entering the faculty grounds in coming days and at the publication of the names of the administrative staff who have been inducted into a mobility scheme of transfers and layoffs.