ATHENS, Sept 12 | Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:20am EDT
ATHENS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Workers at power utility PPC (DEHr.AT) threatened on Monday to block a planned property tax, which the country announced to meet its fiscal targets under an EU/IMF bailout and stave off bankruptcy.
The government said on Sunday it would slap a property tax to plug its 2011 budget hole and make sure it qualifies for the next bailout tranche.
To make sure the tax will be paid, it will be collected through electricity bills. Greece already collects municipal taxes and the fees of state broadcaster ERT through electricity bills. PPC controls more than 90 percent of the country's retail market for power.
But the state-controlled company's powerful labour union GENOP-DEH said it will try to block the tax because it was unfair to consumers.
"GENOP/DEH makes clear it will not allow PPC to be used as a tax collection mechanism," the union said in a statement.
"We will obstruct the issuing of bills... and we will order PPC employees not to cut the power (of customers who refuse to pay the tax)," GENOP-DEH official Nikos Hatzaras said in an interview on television station Skai.
"The government has no political legitimacy to take such measures," he added.
GENOP-DEH is seen as one of Greece's toughest unions. In the past, it has held repeated strikes to prevent the government from selling stakes or seeking strategic partners for the company. (Reporting By Harry Papachristou)
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