Seasonal workers stage new protests in Greece

12/05/2008

ATHENS, Greece -- Hundreds of seasonal farm workers, mostly immigrants, demonstrated on Sunday (May 11th) in Nea Manolada and Vardas, in the southern part of the island of Peloponnese, demanding "humane working conditions". There were similar rallies in early April, when workers in the region staged an unprecedented three-day strike. The immigrants, supported by the Greek Communist Party, protested miserable and unsafe working conditions. Clashes that erupted between the immigrants and farm owners injured three. The workers, most of whom are illegal immigrants from Albania, Bangladesh, Bulgaria and Romania, also demanded an increase of daily wages from 23 euros to 30 euros. (AFP, Focus, Makfax, DPA - 11/05/08)