Feature: Greek farmers take to streets against pension and taxation reforms

Thousands of Greek farmers have again taken to the streets across Greece with more than 15,000 tractors lining up along 50 key national highway junctions protesting the government's pension system reform and taxation plans.

Protesting farmers demand that the Left-led government immediately withdraw the reforms that "strangle" them, otherwise threaten to escalate their mobilizations and turn symbolic brief closures of roads and custom offices at the border crossings with Bulgaria and Turkey that started during the past weekend into "indefinite" blockades by February.

The images of such demonstrations are not alien to Greece. Farmers are keeping up with a three- decade tradition of such mobilizations each winter. What seems different in the road blocks this time is the velocity of anger at the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA party which before taking office a year ago was pledging to radically ease the burdens off farmers' shoulders.

Representatives of agricultural associations call for an appointment with Prime Minister Tsipras this week to start dialogue from scratch, as some protesters verbally attack SYRIZA MPs and burn party banners outside party offices in northern Greece denouncing the "lies."

Farmers claim that should the reforms be implemented, they would lose about 80 percent of their annual income on average to taxes and payments to social security funds.

"We are already struggling to make ends meet after six years of austerity. We will continue the struggle. We will harden our stance," Panhellenic Union of New Farmers General Secretary Stelios Voyiatzis said.

The draft bill on the pension reform the government intends to bring in parliament this week for discussion foresees the increase of social security contributions for farmers from 6.5 percent to 27 percent for the new national insurance fund.

In addition, the taxation reform foresees that their income tax rates will double from the current 13 percent to 26 percent for farmers earning up to 50,000 euros annually. The tax rate will be 33 percent for incomes above 50,000 euros per year.

Cabinet ministers argue that under the new bailout Greece signed last summer in order to secure more funds by lenders to avert default, the overhaul of the pension system to ensure its sustainability must be completed with no delays.

During an interview with Greek television channel MEGA on Sunday Rural Development Minister Vangelis Apostolou stressed that inaction was not an option. If drastic steps are not made, by 2027 Greek farmers will not receive any pensions at all, he warned.

He said that the government was doing everything possible to improve the draft bill and soften the impact through gradual implementation of changes, but underlined that circumstances have changed in the past year and the reforms are part of the agreement with Greece's partners.

Apostolou, as well as other ministers, argue that the government promotes a fairer system and the basic principle is that there cannot be second class citizens who will be paying fewer taxes and fewer contributions to receive smaller pensions.

Today 90 percent of the annual budget of the farmers pension fund OGA is subsidized by the state, meaning other taxpayers, according to official data.

The government also implies that a large percentage of farmers do not properly declare all their income. Six out of ten farmers (about 340,000 taxpayers) declare an annual income of 1,000 euros and another 10 percent (57,000 farmers) declares an annual income of up to 2,000 euros, according to the Finance Ministry. Only one percent of farmers (5,700 taxpayers) declare more than 30,000 euros per year.

Protesters respond that they should not be collectively punished for any tax evaders. They call on the government instead to crack down on tax evasion and ministers and society to acknowledge that their work is harder in comparison to white collar employees. Endit