#kuneva

Dilyana Kuneva

Constantina Kuneva was a little-known cleaner and union activist from Bulgaria struggling to get by in Greece when she suffered a horrific acid attack near her home just before Christmas 2008.

While she never fully recovered from her injuries, she did manage to rebuild her life, to the point that she has just completed a five-year term in the European Parliament.

What she witnessed in that role has her worried about what she sees as a wave of anti-worker conservative legislation reaching Greek shores as the country struggles to recover from economic crisis.

Back in 2008, Kuneva was working to improve working conditions for cleaners as general secretary of the Athens association of cleaners.

An unknown assailant poured acid on her face and down her throat, an attack believed to be linked to her union activities.

She lost the sight of one eye and suffered serious damage to her vocal chords and other internal organs. She was hospitalised for months and underwent additional treatment in France.

Such are her injuries that even now, the 54-year-old mother cannot sleep lying down. And when she speaks, she still has to pause frequently, to draw breath.

Yet even in frail health, Kuneva has become a symbol of Greek labour activism.

- 'We stand to lose our labour rights' -

After five years as a European deputy for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist Syriza party, Kuneva is worried by the rise of neoliberal economic policies in Europe.

"We stand to lose our labour rights," she says.

Kuneva warns that a recent law in Austria extending the maximum working week to 60 hours (or 12 hours per day) sets a bad precedent for countries elsewhere in Europe.

In Romania, the government in 2018 has shifted most of the burden of paying social security from employers to employees, she adds.