The Supreme Court ruled against the cleaning women who have been protesting their dismissal from the Finance Ministry for months and have become symbols of the anger and resistance of workers in the face of memorandum reforms.
The cleaning women of the Finance Ministry have been protesting almost daily since September when they were placed in a six-month mobility scheme. They were subsequently laid off in May, but the cleaning women took their case to court and won a significant legal victory when the Court of First Instance ruled that their dismissal was illegal and ordered that they be rehired.
However the Finance Ministry ignored that ruling and appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. That appeal is due to be heard in the autumn, while today the Supreme Court ruled that the initial court order to rehire the cleaning women be suspended until the appeal process is completed.
The decision was a setback for the cleaning women and their supporters who nevertheless stated their intention to keep protesting.
One of the cleaning women, Dimitra Manoli told the radio station Sto Kokkino, “If they think that by issuing court rulings such as this against workers who have lost their livelihoods and believe that in this way they will cause the cleaning women to yield and leave they are fooling themselves. These things only increase our resolve and make us stronger. On the street they can only take our blood. Our dignity they can never take. Never. We are here.”
The lawyer representing the cleaning women acknowledged that the ruling was a set-back but noted that the court had still not released its reasoning behind the move. That is expected alter in the wek. He expressed the hope that when the appeal was heard by the Supreme Court in the autumn, the judges would not “question the right to life and work of these workers who have suffered.”
News of the ruling led to angry protests outside the Finance Ministry and riot police aggressively pushing back supporters as can be seen in the video below. Two cleaning women, another protester and a journalist have been reportedly taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the clashes.
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