Greek High School Teachers to Strike over Job Cuts

(AP) Greek high school teachers to strike over job cuts
ATHENS, Greece
Unions representing high school teachers in Greece have voted to hold “long-term” strikes starting Sept. 16, in protest at public sector staff cuts ordered by the government as part of its bailout agreements.

The leader of the teaching union OLME, Themis Kotsifakis, said Tuesday that union delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of the weekly rolling protests at a union meeting late Monday.

The move represents the first major challenge to the country’s conservative-led government over its program to suspend 25,000 public servants this year and fire 15,000 by the end of 2014.

State schools open Thursday but classes start Sept. 16.