AlQa'dah 4, 1434, Sep 10, 2013, SPA -- Greek high school teachers voted on Tuesday to launch rolling five-day strikes starting September 16 in protest of the government's decision to cut jobs as part of its bailout commitments, dpa reported. The teachers overwhelmingly voted in favour of the strike action at a union meeting late Monday, making it the first major resistance movement against the government's plan to suspend 25,000 public servants this year and fire 15,000 by the end of 2014. Greek high schools were supposed to open their doors to the new school season on Wednesday. Union leaders said there are 16,000 fewer teachers compared to last year as a result of the changes. On Monday, staff at Athens University suspended all operations for a week in protest at the job cuts. Teachers at other universities along with state elementary and private schools were also meeting to discuss possible strikes, while public sector workers are planning a two-day strike next week. In July some 2,500 teachers were placed into a mobility scheme which foresees them receiving reduced wages until their transfer to another post or dismissal. Greece is suffering from a sixth year of recession and record unemployment of more than 27 percent. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said the country is expected to return to growth at the end of 2014. On Tuesday, the finance ministry said the country's primary budget surplus, which does not take into account interest payments due on outstanding loans, posted a surplus of almost 3 billion euros (3.97-billion dollars) for the first eight months of the year, against a deficit of 1.4 billion euros during the same period last year. The target was for a surplus on 2.5 billion euros. The announcement comes as the country's international creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are scheduled to return to Athens for an inspection visit later this month.
