Dairy farmers clash with police at Ioannina factory over back pay

Dozens of dairy farmers demanding money owed to them by the Dodoni dairy factory in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, clashed with police on Friday after breaking through the central gate of the premises and staging a rally in the factory’s courtyard.

Protesters threw rocks and other projectiles at riot police, who responded with tear gas.

The dairy farmers are demanding that Dodoni management pays off all of its debts toward them, which they say have built up over for months. Management has said that the company, one of Greece’s leading dairy product producers, is currently facing liquidity problems.

Dodoni’s chief executive told dairy farmers earlier in the day that they will be paid arrears from April in August and that the money they are owed from May will be given to them in September.

This proposal did not seem to satisfy the farmers, who subsequently crashed through the factory’s gates demanding payment in full.