Living in Crete | Relief at Greek Driver's Strike Over
The whole thing was getting a bit too serious after some 10 days; ferries and flights interrupted and cancelled; routine usage of the car curtailed. Perhaps the strikers were getting hit over the heads by their families for going too far and causing discomfort too close to home. I wonder how long it will take for deliveries of essential services to normalize?
Mind you tourists will be tourists. They still drive into the mountains with emotional consequences and stress. No wonder this lady travelling on her own did not enjoy Crete.
Then there's the philosophical couple of Brits in Crete, "the Tylers" awaiting their flight back to UK. Nothing like the hours spent relaxing at Heraklion Airport's Departure Terminal awaiting the time of their re-scheduled departure. At least the terminal's floor is carpeted and clean and the huge hall is air conditioned. The Tylers blog is aptly headed "A striking Conclusion". The Tyler's were caught in another aspect of disaffected employees, the traffic controllers opted for a wildcat 4 hour stike.
In the BritsinCrete Forum, the pleas for news of filling stations still open from some members made it clear just how close this strike came to bringing Greece to a standstill if it had continued for much longer.
Yet, having created serious problems and knock on effects in the market, as well as for consumers, the Lorry Drivers Federation that called the strike action stressed that its members suspended its strike with a "feeling of responsibility" and also taking into consideration "social turmoil". Heavy heartedly, the drivers said they were to make every effort possible "to enable even the most remote fuel station to be supplied with fuel". Aha, but when?