A nationwide tractor rally will take place in Athens on Friday afternoon. The tractors are scheduled to gather in the city's central square, in front of Parliament, and to depart the following day. The rally has been called by organizations of farmers, livestock breeders, beekeepers, and fishermen who, from November 30 to January 23, carried out blockades of major road axes and border customs points throughout Greece.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Snapshot from the latest farmers' rally with tractors in Athens, on February 20, 2024. The banner reads: "Without us, what will you chew?"
This central mobilization comes after, in the period since the end of the multi-day nationwide blockades, Greek farmers carried out a series of individual protests and actions in their local areas, as they consider the latest measures announced by the government on January 19, following a meeting with their representatives, to be unsatisfactory. Specifically, they speak of "crumbs" that the government was forced to grant under the pressure of their mobilizations, while their core demands were not met, creating suffocating conditions for the continuation of the production process and for their survival.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Snapshot from the latest farmers' rally with tractors in Athens, on February 20, 2024.
Thus, the vital demands they put forward for more than 6 weeks at the blockades remain at the center of their struggle. In brief, their demands include a reduction in production costs, income replenishment, payment of outstanding subsidies, selling prices for their products that cover production costs and ensure an income sufficient for survival and reproduction, protection from natural disasters through the implementation of all necessary infrastructure projects, as well as protection from animal diseases, and a change in the insurance regulation so that it insures and compensates production and capital at 100% for all damaging causes and without delays.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
Snapshot from the latest farmers' rally with tractors in Athens, on February 20, 2024.
Finally, labor unions, which have long been in a state of unrest over their own demands, continue to coordinate their actions with those of the farmers. The country's two largest labor centers, those of Athens and Piraeus, have declared a four-hour work stoppage on Friday and will participate in the farmers' rally. Beyond the various labor issues they raise, on the occasion of the gathering of tractors in Athens, they denounce large food traders, food industrialists, and supermarkets for "Greekizing" imported products and for high prices, and they demand the provision of cheap, safe, and Greek food products.
