Matina
6th April 2009, 18:45
Excerpts from www.marxist.com
On Thursday, April 2, in Greece we witnessed the 11th general strike since the ND (New Democracy) took office in 2004. Of the most recent general strikes this was the biggest, with a larger participation and bigger demonstrations than the previous general strikes of October and December 2008.
The general strike was called by the GSEE (Greek Confederation of Private Sector Workers) and ADEDY (Public Sector) against the present wave of sackings and violations of workers rights and also against the governments announcement that in 2009 the Greek workers in the public sector and the pensioners will not get any increase in their wages and pensions.
The main slogan in the rallies was, We will not pay for the crisis! In Athens in the joint GSEE and ADEDY [Unions controlled by PASOK, Socialist Party, and SYRIZA] demonstration 45-50,000 people participated and in the PAME [Unions controlled by the KKE, Communist Party] demonstration more than 10,000 people participated. Rallies were organized in more than 60 towns across Greece.
The mood among the workers on the demonstrations was very militant and the element that dominated was one of anger against the bosses and the government. Lack of enthusiasm towards and a general mood of distrust of the trade union leadership of both GSEE and ADEDY emerged in the discussions with the workers. On the other hand all the workers participating in the demonstrations expressed a desire for an escalation of the struggle.
This general strike is the result of the open class war that the Greek bourgeoisie has declared against the workers with its desire to deepen and intensify the exploitation of the workers. For example, the company belonging to I. Mylonas, the President of the Industrialists of North Greece, ALUMIL, cut both wages and hours although the companys profits rose by 10% in the last quarter of 2008. Also in another engineering company, NEXSANS Hellas, we have seen sackings and layoffs, although the company has officially announced the target of increasing production for the coming period.
This action on the part of the bosses further underlines the utopian nature of the GSEE leaders tactics over the previous 2-3 months where they have attempted to make deals with the leaders of the SEV (Union of Greek Industrialists) to find a common position against the crisis. Unfortunately for them reality has disturbed their plans. The wave of sackings and the militant mood that is growing among the workers have forced the union leaders to call yet another general strike against their will, with the possibility of another general strike being called in the immediate future.
On Thursday, April 2, in Greece we witnessed the 11th general strike since the ND (New Democracy) took office in 2004. Of the most recent general strikes this was the biggest, with a larger participation and bigger demonstrations than the previous general strikes of October and December 2008.
The general strike was called by the GSEE (Greek Confederation of Private Sector Workers) and ADEDY (Public Sector) against the present wave of sackings and violations of workers rights and also against the governments announcement that in 2009 the Greek workers in the public sector and the pensioners will not get any increase in their wages and pensions.
The main slogan in the rallies was, We will not pay for the crisis! In Athens in the joint GSEE and ADEDY [Unions controlled by PASOK, Socialist Party, and SYRIZA] demonstration 45-50,000 people participated and in the PAME [Unions controlled by the KKE, Communist Party] demonstration more than 10,000 people participated. Rallies were organized in more than 60 towns across Greece.
The mood among the workers on the demonstrations was very militant and the element that dominated was one of anger against the bosses and the government. Lack of enthusiasm towards and a general mood of distrust of the trade union leadership of both GSEE and ADEDY emerged in the discussions with the workers. On the other hand all the workers participating in the demonstrations expressed a desire for an escalation of the struggle.
This general strike is the result of the open class war that the Greek bourgeoisie has declared against the workers with its desire to deepen and intensify the exploitation of the workers. For example, the company belonging to I. Mylonas, the President of the Industrialists of North Greece, ALUMIL, cut both wages and hours although the companys profits rose by 10% in the last quarter of 2008. Also in another engineering company, NEXSANS Hellas, we have seen sackings and layoffs, although the company has officially announced the target of increasing production for the coming period.
This action on the part of the bosses further underlines the utopian nature of the GSEE leaders tactics over the previous 2-3 months where they have attempted to make deals with the leaders of the SEV (Union of Greek Industrialists) to find a common position against the crisis. Unfortunately for them reality has disturbed their plans. The wave of sackings and the militant mood that is growing among the workers have forced the union leaders to call yet another general strike against their will, with the possibility of another general strike being called in the immediate future.