Seamen who refuse to comply risk arrest and jail time of up to five years — although a union leader said workers would try to defy the order.
Samaras' three-party coalition government is facing a strong backlash from unions over new austerity policies forced upon it by international creditors, whose bailout loans are shielding debt-heavy Greece from bankruptcy.
Merchant Marine Minister Costas Mousouroulis said the government did what it could to address seamen's demands for payment of salaries more than six months in arrears and the signing of collective work contracts with ferry companies.
An island trade and commerce association warned that the seamen's walkout poses a substantial threat to small businesses in the archipelago, which already face severe pressure due to Greece's three-year financial crisis.
The repeated income cuts and tax hikes deepened a recession already in its sixth year, amid soaring unemployment that has left more than 26 percent of the workforce without a job.
The government insists that the austerity is working, with provisional figures showing that it reduced last year's budget deficit to the targeted 6.6 percent of annual output and achieved a modest primary surplus.
Samaras' three-party coalition government is facing a strong backlash from unions over new austerity policies forced upon it by international creditors, whose bailout loans are shielding debt-heavy Greece from bankruptcy.
Merchant Marine Minister Costas Mousouroulis said the government did what it could to address seamen's demands for payment of salaries more than six months in arrears and the signing of collective work contracts with ferry companies.
An island trade and commerce association warned that the seamen's walkout poses a substantial threat to small businesses in the archipelago, which already face severe pressure due to Greece's three-year financial crisis.
The repeated income cuts and tax hikes deepened a recession already in its sixth year, amid soaring unemployment that has left more than 26 percent of the workforce without a job.
The government insists that the austerity is working, with provisional figures showing that it reduced last year's budget deficit to the targeted 6.6 percent of annual output and achieved a modest primary surplus.
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