Street Market Protest Offers Free Produce
- Written by Maria Athens
In a protest against a street market regulation draft bill tabled by the government, street vendors in Attica and Thessaloniki offered free produce to shoppers, that gained a large amount of recipients today.
As of Monday, street market farmers, vendors, and sellers have started a lengthy strike against the Development Ministry bill. Some of the free produce regions became chaotic, as people demanded items and tempers got out of control. In Kamara, Thessaloniki a few individuals fainted and a Kolonos market stall desecrated. Farmers will participate in Labour Day on Thursday, while a federation demonstration is scheduled in central Athens on Friday, when the bill will hit Parliament. Additional free fruit and vegetable offerings are planned for Saturday.
Many of the debated articles of the bill include a stall allocation by a yearly lottery, municipalities' choice on the amount of sellers per market, a separation between sellers and producers at markets, violation fines and sanctions. These fines range from 1,000 to 3,000 euros, and certain errors will result in jail for three months to one year.
