On Sunday the federation of university administrative employees decided to extend the 10-week strike at the University of Athens and the Technical University of Athens by a further 24 hours, despite repeated pleas to allow teaching to resume on Tuesday.
Meanwhile the Council of State rejected the appeal of administrative employees who wanted to suspend the government’s suspension and dismissal plans. The administrative employees have yet to respond to the rejection to their appeal, however the council decision did not come as a surprise.
With popular support wavering and legal options lessening, the management of the universities on strike are beginning to distance themselves from the ongoing strike, with the Senate of the University of Athens having already announced the intention to resume teaching on Tuesday (provided that the administrative staff do not interrupt access to university facilities) and published details on the upcoming exams.
The President of the Law School of Athens Theodoros Fortsakis controversially proposed that “if the administrative employees want to continue their strike, the universities and Ministry of Education must quickly work together to hire emergency administrative employees, so that the institutions can open”.
Mr. Fortsakis claimed that administrative employees facing suspension and dismissal had been interrupting Senate proceedings, while the Minister of Education Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos warned that the Police must intervene should teaching staff and students not be allowed to enter university facilities.
