Management and workers at Greece's dominant electric company, Public Power Corp. SA (PPC.AT), reached a deal Tuesday to resume operations at two of 16 power plants shut by recent strike action.
By restarting operations at the two plants, an additional 500 megawatts of power should come on-line by later Tuesday, reducing the extent and scope of rolling power cuts that have hit all parts of Greece in the past week.
Since last Monday, the power sector workers' union, or Genop, has been striking over government plans to reform Greece's fragmented and deficit-ridden pension system.
That strike has forced rolling blackouts across the country and, combined with shutdowns at a handful of other plants undergoing either scheduled maintenance or due to technical problems, have cut Greece's power supply by about 40%.
In a statement, PPC also said the union had agreed to resume operations at two of the company's coal mines, which had also been put out of operation due to the strike, and that electricity production at one of PPC's hydroelectric dams would begin.
However, even with the two power plants and the hydroelectric dam in operation, there remains a shortfall in overall electricity supply.
"We still anticipate a shortfall of about 1,200 megawatts today," said Evangelos Lekatsas, president of Greece's grid operator, or HTSO.
He said Greece is currently importing almost 1,000 MW of electricity from neighboring countries, mainly Macedonia and Bulgaria, to cope with the shortfall.
Genop is only one of several unions that are opposed to the government's reforms, which will be debated Tuesday in parliament.
Local government workers have also announced a multi-day strike that has led to, among other things, the suspension in garbage collection services in some municipalities around Greece. At the same time, bank workers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and both of Greece's two major umbrella unions, GSEE and ADEDY, have announced various strike actions this week to oppose the reforms.
But the Genop strike has had the most visible impact in the struggle between the government and the labor movement, with thousands of homes and small businesses affected by the power cuts.
The power cuts, usually about two hours in duration, have included parts of central Athens and Thessaloniki, the country's two largest cities. As a result, stoplights in both cities have operated sporadically, snarling traffic on roads, while hundreds of apartment dwellers have had to be freed from stalled elevators around the country.
Many small shopkeepers, particularly those dealing in food products and other perishables, have been hit by losses. The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said it will file a lawsuit against Genop next week for damages.
Since being reelected in September, the center-right New Democracy government has been pushing to reform Greece's pension system.
Among other things, the reforms aim to unify 133 separate pension funds - including the Genop fund - into just 13 major umbrella funds. Genop members fear the incorporation of their relatively generous and healthy fund into a financially weaker umbrella fund will lead to a reduction in benefits.
The Genop strike is scheduled to continue through Wednesday.