Athens - Teachers Occupied the State TV Station (ERT)

from afterthegreekriots
Monday, May 3, 2010
At about 21:45 GMT+2 tonight, while the Nine O’clock News were live on air, dozens of teachers entered the headquarters of the State TV station (ERT) in Athens. After the news the channel had planned an interview with the minister of education. The teachers demanded to be present in the studio during the interview of the minister and to be allowed to talk as well.
While the news were on air suddenly noises and arguments were heard from the background and from that point on the program’s normal flow was stopped for several hours. Police special forces have invaded the building since, beating teachers in the corridors.
Eventually, after negotiations and more violence from the police at 23:00 local time the protesters managed to get a short recorded message on air (see video below). The teachers are members of the national union of teachers; their statement talks against the IMF and calls everyone to participate in the general strike of Wednesday 5th of May. They also talk about the new law of the Ministry of Education which will decrease the quality of public free education and will make several thousands of teachers unemployed.