Hundreds of Greek gold miners and technical staff are preparing to stage "powerful demonstrations" directed against the left-wing Syriza government, unions told Al Jazeera. Their employer, Canada's Eldorado Gold Corporation, announced last week that it will lay them off and utilize a key mine in northern Greece after years of government obstruction.
"We're not going to take this lying down," the miners' union chief, Yiorgos Hatzis, told Al Jazeera.
"Everyone is against the government, which won't let us work. This indignation has gone on for a year. Everyone understands that it is this government that stands between our bread and us," Hatzis said.