ATHENS

Media outlets in Greece voted early Wednesday to extend a strike in protest against planned changes to the press law. 

The media institutions, including the Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency (ANA-MPA) and state-run broadcaster ERT, decided to extend the partial strike launched late Tuesday for another 24 hours.

Unions representing the media workers said the planned changes to the press law are a great blow to the press workers who struggle every day under unfavorable conditions to produce objective news amid an ever-worsening health crisis.

The federations, which are demanding the immediate revocation of the bill, expressed concern that it "would pave the way for mass layoffs.”

It was underlined that the draft law, which aims to reduce the requirement of 400 employees at television channels to 280, includes more flexible articles against journalists in the employment contracts.

While ANA-MPA, ERT and many private press institutions have halted all news flow except for developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the strike is expected to be extended again if there is no change in the government's position.

*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak