General Strike in Greece

[Die Rote Fahne]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/02/24/wd-greece-strike.html

[Communist]

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Nationwide Strike Paralyzes Greece (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575084853361540506.html)
Feb. 25, 2010

By SEBASTIAN MOFFETT & COSTAS PARIS

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-BE553_GREECE_G_20100224192727.jpg

Reuters A protester clashes with riot police during Wednesday's demonstrations in Athens. Unions held a 24-hour strike to show opposition to the government's austerity plans.

ATHENS—Tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets Wednesday as much of the country went on a 24-hour strike against government austerity measures.

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-HQ779_0223gr_D_20100224073803.jpg
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration in Athens on Wednesday. Greece ground to a halt as unions staged a one-day general strike and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest austerity measures designed to tame a public debt crisis.

A small group of youths threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas. However, the 20,000 people who filed through downtown Athens—a relatively large crowd for a Greek strike—mostly limited themselves to chanting anti-government slogans.

Public- and private-sector unions called the strike to protest a range of measures aimed at reducing Greece's budget deficit. The government has announced a freeze on civil-service wages, cuts in public-sector entitlements and the closing of tax loopholes for certain professions, including some civil servants. It has also announced a fuel-tax increase.

"There is an all-out war against public servants, those who earn the least," said Spyros Papaspyros president of ADEDY, an umbrella union for public-sector workers. "We will fight to keep the little we have. The government and the EU must understand the crisis must be paid by the rich."

The government moves are aimed at reducing Greece's budget deficit, which at about 13% of gross domestic product last year was well over the EU's 3% limit. This has raised the interest rate Greece has to pay to borrow money. Brussels has ordered Greece to bring the deficit to within the EU limit by 2012.

A massive general strike to protest E.U.-mandated austerity measures closed banks, government offices and post offices, crippling the Greek capital Wednesday. WSJ's Andy Jordan reports from the streets of Athens.

Despite the protests, which follow strikes in recent weeks, Greece appears determined to press ahead with its measures. An opinion poll published Sunday by Greek newspaper Ethnos showed that 76% of Greeks opposed strikes for the time being, and 58% thought the government's austerity measures were in the right direction.

Following a visit Tuesday by EU and International Monetary Fund officials, the Greek government is due to announce further austerity measures, possibly as early as next week. On March 16, EU finance ministers will meet to review Greece's progress.

ADEDY, the union, said about 80% of its members were on strike Wednesday. Government offices, schools and universities were closed, as was Athens International Airport. Train, bus and ferry services were canceled nationwide, though a minimum level of service was maintained in Athens.

The journalists' union also took part, so there were no reports of the strike on Greek television, and no newspapers were scheduled to be published Thursday.

Many demonstrators said they hadn't yet suffered the effects of the cutbacks—but were fearful of what the future held.

"Up until now I haven't seen my income drop," said Christos Marinis, a 45-year-old accountant. "But all this talk of catastrophes has hurt my company's business, and there will be a drop in workers' and pensioners' incomes."

Though many Greeks recognize that their country needs to take drastic measures to fix its problems, resentment against outsiders is growing.

"The capitalist crisis is both the cause of global turmoil and the excuse for our rights to be taken away," said Panos Bikos, a 31-year-old electrical engineer.

A group of primary-school teachers carried a banner reading, "No to economic subjugation by the government, the EU and capital markets."

The demonstrations began peacefully. But as the march reached Syntagma Square, location of the Greek parliament, about 20 youths broke away and threw missiles, plastic bottles and pieces of marble at police. Some bus stops were damaged.The police tear gas broke up the scuffles and sent customers fleeing from the outdoor terraces of some cafés around the square.

Greece's unemployment rate was around 9% at the end of last year, but is expected to exceed 10% this year. Giorgos Asimakopoulos, 47, lost his job a year ago when the road-works company that employed him closed down.

Since then he has been serving souvlaki, chunks of meat grilled on a skewer, from a mobile stand.

Even that income has dropped during the downturn, he said. Last year he made around €150 euros ($203) at a big soccer game, but on Tuesday night had taken in just €50 at the European Champions League game between Olympiakos of Athens and Girondins de Bordeaux, a French team. On Wednesday many of his customers were strikers.

"There's been a big drop in business," he said. "The strikes should continue."

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[the last donut of the night]

All I can say: :thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1: :thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1: :thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1:

[Tablo]

It is nice to hear that the workers in Greece are really standing up for themselves. They are an example to the rest of the world in my eyes.

[Communist]

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Greek public sector union to strike March 16

ADEDY (http://www.adedy.gr/adedy/site/home/ws.csp;jsessionid=c0a8050b30d859577096a1ad48be9ccd adb86227f924.e34Nc34KbNeNby0PahiOb30Tbx90n6jAmljGr 5XDqQLvpAe?loc=en_US) (the Civil Servants' Confederation) called a new 24-hour strike
for March 16 to protest against new austerity measures expected from
the government to tackle the country's debt crisis.

At the same time the Primary Schools Teachers' Association, DOY, called
for a 48-hour strike for March 8 and 9. ADEDY will support with a 4
hours strike on March 8.

ADEDY is calling GSEE (http://www.gsee.gr/) (the General Confederation of Greek Workers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Confederation_of_Greek_Workers)) to
coordinate for a common struggle.

The Movement for the Reorganisation of the KKE 1918-55 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Reorganization_of_the_Communist_P arty_of_Greece_1918-55) supports both strikes and
calls people to participate. No tolerance for all those who bankrupted the
country and are now trying to dump the effects of their crimes on poor
people's back.

The Political Committee of the "Movement for the Reorganisation of the
Communist Party of Greece 1918-55 (http://anasintaxi.awardspace.com/)"

PO Box 3689, 102 10 Athens
Greece

Tel: +30 2108621543

Site:http://anasintaxi.awardspace.com (http://anasintaxi.awardspace.com/)

Blog (English):http://anasintaxi-en.blogspot.com (http://anasintaxi-en.blogspot.com/)

Blog (Greek):http://anasintaxi.blogspot.com (http://anasintaxi.blogspot.com/)

[Communist]

Euro crisis (http://www.workers.org/2010/world/greece_0311/)

Greek workers say: ‘Let the rich pay’

By John Catalinotto
Mar 3, 2010


A second general strike in two weeks shows that Greek workers are standing up to the bosses’ and bankers’ attempt to force them to pay the costs of a problem the workers had no responsibility for creating: the capitalist economic crisis. This determined resistance is what’s behind the headlines on the financial pages about the euro’s stability and European Union negotiations with the Greek regime.

http://www.workers.org/2010/world/greece_0311.jpg
Salonika, Greece.. Photo: KKE

Two million Greek workers stayed away from their jobs on Feb. 24.

Factories, offices, large retail stores, seaports and airports were closed. Workers and youths took to the streets in 70 cities throughout Greece. “Reject the government plan, the rich should pay for the crisis,” read the banner leading the demonstration in Athens.

The militant mood on the street contrasted with the discussions among bank boards of directors, government officials and the capitalist-controlled media throughout the European Union. The EU itself is an instrument of big business, a coalition of capitalists arrayed against the European working class and the nations in the former colonial world. Its ruling-class media try to portray the Greek people in general, especially the workers, as unwilling to work hard and make the necessary sacrifices — to save the capitalist economy.

Europe’s financial bosses are insisting that before they will “bail out” the Greek government with loans, it must impose an even harsher austerity on the workers than the taxes, wage cuts, hiring freezes, and increase in retirement age and social-service cutbacks already proposed. They aim to force the government to crack down on the workers — using the excuse that this is needed to overcome the financial crisis. They then want to impose cutbacks on workers throughout the EU, even in countries where the debt problems are less critical.

U.S. bankers are also part of the mix. Goldman Sachs arranged large parts of the Greek debt and expects the Greek government to squeeze its debt payments from the Greek workers.

Greece has a social democratic government led by Prime Minister George Papandreou of the PASOK party. Many workers voted for it precisely to avoid this vicious attack, but PASOK has instead led the offensive against them. Unlike its capitalist overlords in Berlin and Brussels, PASOK has to directly confront the Greek workers’ growing anger.

A half-million workers had struck on Feb. 10, called out by the PAME union federation, which is close to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). This time the GSEE union federation and other unions closer to the social democrats joined the strike, many walking out for the first time, and some joined the PAME-led marches. (inter.kke.gr)

Their placards read: “Here is the money: the deposits of the enterprises in 2004 were 36 billion euros; in 2009, 136 billion euros. 250,000 workers receive a salary of 740 euros [approximately $1,000 per month]. At the same time, 700 billion euros are in the pockets of the big enterprises.” (inter.kke.gr)

A refreshing aspect of the Greek protests is that the speakers and slogans reject the ruling-class argument that “joint sacrifice” is needed from the population. By “joint sacrifice,” the bankers mean that workers must give up pay, benefits and often their jobs, in order to rescue the profits and debt payments to the rulers.

They argue that these sacrifices will restore the capitalist economy. But, just as in the U.S., official unemployment in the EU has grown to just under 10 percent, and whatever capitalist recovery has taken place has also been jobless. The Greek workers say that if sacrifices are needed to save capitalism, then “Let the rich pay!”

This attitude is spreading. In Spain, where official unemployment is 19 percent, two of the union federations, the CCOO and the UGT, protested in Madrid on Feb. 23 against the government’s austerity plans. In Portugal a one-day general strike of the public sector rejecting an extension of the wage freeze is planned for March 4. Both countries have Socialist Party governments, but these social democrats are carrying out severe attacks on the workers.

French and German working-class resistance has been more sporadic, but it’s there. Lufthansa’s 4,500 pilots held a short strike in February. In France, workers at six French oil refineries and then air traffic controllers walked out.

In the U.S. the relative passivity of the unions has allowed the bosses to take the offensive, laying off, outsourcing and cutting benefits while paralyzing even the minimal efforts of the Barack Obama administration to pass modest reforms to health care or extend unemployment payments. Part of fighting back is realizing, as the Greek workers are saying, that the bosses created the crisis and should pay for it.

At a mass rally at Omonia Square, in Athens city center, union leader Yiannis Tolis said: “The forces of capital and its political representatives understand that the more they blackmail and intimidate the workers, the more they try to mislead them and place new burdens upon them, the more anger and indignation they cause. They dread the perspective of the general uprising of the workers. ...

“They are mistaken if they believe that they can manipulate the peoples’ will, once it is on the path of the class struggle. History has proved that when the river flows it cannot retrace its path.” (inter.kke.gr)

______________________




Articles copyright 1995-2010 Workers World (http://www.workers.org/wwp/).
Verbatim copying and distribution of entire
article is permitted in any medium without
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[Wolf Larson]

These structural adjustments are coming to the USA and every other nation effected by this capitalist crisis. Obama is doing it now with his corporate health bill. Cutting up to 600 billion from Medicare while forcing us to buy private insurance. It's one big structural adjustment and most people on the left cant even see it. Tea Party people will be protesting for social cuts to "balance the budget". Fucking idiots. Most all of them are working class. Instead of protests as we see happening in Greece American's are yelling and screaming "cut our social programs!- socialism is evil- socialism caused this crisis!".

The only people insulated from the effects of the crisis are the ones who caused it and they are protected from austerity measures or bankruptcy via the tax payers- socialism for the rich. In that regards,yes, socialism is causing our problems. This has been going on for years before the current crisis and subsequent bail outs. In 1970 Penn Central was bailed out by tax payers/workers. Lockheed corporation [the defense contractor] was bailed out in the early 1970's by tax payers/workers. In 1978 Chrysler was bailed out by the tax payers/workers. Unity Bank was bailed out in the 1970's by tax payers/workers. Bank of Detroit was bailed out in the 1970's by tax payers/workers. First Pennsylvania Bank was bailed out in the late 1970's by tax payers/workers. In the 1980's Continental Illinois, another giant bank, was bailed out by the tax payers/workers and on and on. This is what I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure there has been more corporations and banks bailed out to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars before this current mess we're in now which has added up to trillions.

This is the capitalists motivation for creating the gov and Federal Reserve system. To privatize profit and socialize cost/losses. To bail out the private banks and corporations at the tax payers expense while pushing austerity measures or structural adjustments for the workers. Free market capitalism only applies when dealing with social spending. I don't have to tell you guys this but the biggest social expanse is the military and we all know it's used to garner massive private profits. Workers fund this entire pyramid scheme and the capitalists act like, no, they are sociopath parasites draining our wealth, time and very lives like existential leeches siphoning our life force. It's not enough that they weasel profits from workers while doing nothing themselves they had to create a government in order to fund and protect their failed business ventures. This is one reason so called anarcho capitalists are insane. They cant see or acknowledge the reality that capitalism cannot exist without a state to help rob the workers/masses of people. We should be lobbying to have each failed business turned over to workers. GM should have been given to workers. Not the state but the workers. We need to be spending our time spreading propaganda/educating our fellow working class in lieu of debating each other and or whatever it is most of us do on our down time. The fact this current crisis churned out millions of reactionaries [in America] in lieu of worker solidarity speaks volume to what we're up against.

[ckaihatsu]

What really catches my attention is how *arbitrary* the numbers side of it all really is. Since even the major Western economies run in deficit mode who's to say what is "too much" in the red and what "acceptable" levels of debt are -- ???

At some point the annual budget deficit reaches a certain percentage of the country's GDP and then the financial sector decides that's "too far" -- for some countries but not for others, that is.

Obviously making repayments on debt with other *kinds* of debt is just adding complexity to an already-imaginary economic game. With 10 years of dead air behind us and *zero* prospects for any kind of improvements in the world economy, why should *anyone* bother pretending anymore?

Workers everywhere have every right to decide terms for their labor and to be compensated in real goods and services, described in tangible terms -- *not* through the smokescreen of currency exchanges. All power to the Greek workers and to the working class of the world!

[Communist]

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The severe permanent anti-people measures must not pass!


Demonstrations, sit- ins and general strike on Friday March 5th (http://inter.kke.gr/News/2010news/2010-03-03-xesikomos)


Yesterday the Greek government announced the most severe package of measures over the last decades. In this way it confirmed that the attack that the social democrat government of PASOK is launching against the vast majority of the people with the support of the EU, the great capital, the liberal ND and the nationalist LAOS is escalating and it will definitely have no end.

All the measures announced by the government of the socialdemocratic PASOK on Wednesday as well as the others that will come in the future strike a blow at the peoples income either directly by imposing cuts on civil servants’ salaries, Christmas and Easter bonus, as well as on holiday allowance while at the same time similar measures are planed for the private sector or indirectly by means of increasing VAT for all categories of products and services as well other taxes on fuels, alcohol and tobacco. Furthermore the government announced a hiring freeze.

Since Wednesday afternoon after the measures’ announcement, KKE and PAME have been in the frontline for the organisation of the counterattack against the full fledged attack against the people.

The day the new measures were announced the forces of PAME immediately realised manifestations in 55 cities throughout Greece. PAME called the people to a general mobilisation so as to give a unified, to stage a war against the war of the capital and its parties.

http://www2.rizospastis.gr/getImage.do?size=medium&id=276858&format=.jpg

The call for militant mobilisation was spread throughout the streets of Athens and other big cities. Thousands of working people participated in the placard protests, the demonstrations and other multiform mobilisations organised by PAME calling the people to reject this policy and to struggle to overthrow it. These initiatives spontaneously were converted into mass manifestations that directly condemned these measures.

This morning the forces of PAME proceeded to a massive sit-in at the building of Ministry of Finance in the centre of Athens and at a number of other government buildings throughout the country.

The action is escalated today with big demonstrations and rallies in more than 62 cities throughout Greece.

On Friday 5, the day that the parliament will pass these measures, PAME calls for a nationwide strike. The working class has the duty to respond to the war launched against it. Workers must fight for themselves, their children and for the next generations.

“It is a tragedy for the people to lose their rights, to see their wages being cut down despite the long lasting struggles in the previous years, despite the sacrifices that led even to blood shed. But above all it is a disgrace -and we do not believe that this will happen- these barbarous measures to pass without the people’s resistance, without the people’s counterattack and even more so to give the impression that the people consent to these measures” stressed Aleka Papariga, GS of the CC of Communist Party of Greece, at a special press conference.

[Communist]

All power to the Greek workers and to the working class of the world!

What are you, some kind of commie??
:)

:thumbup1:

[Red Commissar]

What really catches my attention is how *arbitrary* the numbers side of it all really is. Since even the major Western economies run in deficit mode who's to say what is "too much" in the red and what "acceptable" levels of debt are -- ???

At some point the annual budget deficit reaches a certain percentage of the country's GDP and then the financial sector decides that's "too far" -- for some countries but not for others, that is.

Obviously making repayments on debt with other *kinds* of debt is just adding complexity to an already-imaginary economic game. With 10 years of dead air behind us and *zero* prospects for any kind of improvements in the world economy, why should *anyone* bother pretending anymore?

This is how they force economies to follow their standards. If you look at the conditions of a lot of the aid the government asks for, it stipulates cuts in public spending and other such things. Their ultimate goal is that once Greece comes out of this, it'll create an economy in their favor.

It's a sickening thing, but it's the same way that the World Bank and IMF operates when they hand out loans to developing third-world nations, to push them towards making economies beneficial to corporations.

It is good that they're standing up against this. If the government won't stand up to their sovereignty being jacked like this, the people must take matters into their own hands.

[Patchd]

Kudos to those workers and kids, cheers for the info and updates! :thumbup1:

[cyu]

Excerpts from http://www.marxist.com/greece-not-sacrifice-lives-pay-interest-to-lenders.htm

Instead of serving the interests of the working class that voted them in office, the Greek government have become the trusted yes-men of the speculators who constantly ask for “new measures” to guarantee that the big banks will not lose their interest payments.

the government, big capital and its international agents (EU, ECB, IMF)... are asking us to sacrifice our lives to guarantee the interest payments to the capitalists... the loop of this crisis be tightened around the necks of the capitalists and not of the workers.

[the last donut of the night]

This is actually amazing.

[Across The Street]

Indeed

[ckaihatsu]

This is how they force economies to follow their standards. If you look at the conditions of a lot of the aid the government asks for, it stipulates cuts in public spending and other such things. Their ultimate goal is that once Greece comes out of this, it'll create an economy in their favor.




It is good that they're standing up against this. If the government won't stand up to their sovereignty being jacked like this, the people must take matters into their own hands.


Yup...!





It's a sickening thing, but it's the same way that the World Bank and IMF operates when they hand out loans to developing third-world nations, to push them towards making economies beneficial to corporations.


As far as the working class is concerned it makes *zero* difference as to *where* the dictates for cuts in social spending are coming from -- it could be phrased in terms of Greece's economic sovereignty, or for the cohesion of the EU entity, or to add to the IMF portfolio.

We're witnessing a sinkhole forming under the European Union itself -- the EU was formed as a defensive maneuver to hold various European countries' varied economies together in the face of rising global competition. Now we're seeing the real situation exposed due to the financial stress -- outlying, weaker European national economies (the "PIIGS") are at risk of becoming severe liabilities to the EU management. The working class in countries like Greece and Portugal are having to do rank-and-file general strikes just to maintain the thinnest of atmospheric (nation-based) protection for their basic social services.

The national entities themselves, meanwhile, could very well be detached from the EU orbit and scarfed up on the cheap into a U.S.-dominated IMF hegemony.





[...]

Both EU and German politicians are concerned that the measures introduced by the Papandreou government will be insufficient to stave off bankruptcy. They fear that any failure by the Greek government to meet its debt payments on time could in turn be followed by declarations of bankruptcy by a series of other exposed European states. Such a development would not only threaten the EU’s joint currency, the euro, but also the EU itself.

[...]

At the same time, there are deep divisions over the nature of a bailout plan—in particular whether it should be organised by the EU and Europe countries alone, or be based on the resources of the US-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF)—which would effectively allow Washington a role in the affairs of the euro.

[...]

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/gree-m04.shtml





[...]

There are some discussions of private involvement in a potential bailout. On February 28, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she was confident Greece could refinance its debt “via the means that we are now studying…involving private partners, public partners, or both.” Two days before, Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann traveled to Greece for meetings with Papandreou.

Increasingly, European politicians are considering letting the IMF set up a Greek bailout and force through social austerity measures. Since the outbreak of the world economic crisis, the IMF has organised bailouts for Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine. More broadly, the IMF has pushed through draconian austerity measures in large sections of Africa, Asia and Latin America over the last three decades.

The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Merkel is more open to a deeper IMF role, says a person familiar with her thinking…. Ms. Merkel believes the IMF has more know-how and experience at setting up aid packages than the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.”

However, many European officials are concerned that a bailout of Greece by the IMF, which is dominated by Washington, would give the US decisive influence over the eurozone and the euro itself. China also has IMF voting rights.

Last month, Le Monde cited anonymous high-ranking European officials as saying, “If [the IMF] intervened alone, we would lose all control of the conditions [of the bailout]. Efforts at budgetary and monetary coordination inside the eurozone would no longer have any meaning.”

On Monday, Luxembourg Minister-President Jean-Claude Juncker told Der Spiegel, “I consider that an engagement by the IMF going beyond technical help would not be necessary.” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is also hostile to an IMF bailout of Greece, Der Spiegel wrote, noting, “no one in Berlin wants the US to be involved in the eurozone, even indirectly.”

[...]

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/gree-m03.shtml


(Since the German economy is the strongest in the EU it is the most concerned about the overall balance sheet.)

[scarletghoul]

Awesome, wishing them the best of luck

[ZeroNowhere]

Now, I'm sure we can expect Marxists in Greece to explain the origins of the crisis in capitalism itself and the falling rate of profit, so as firstly to make sure that people know that what they're supposed to be paying for is inherent in capital itself, and secondly to avoid the movement being exploited by populists and targeted against rich bankers who supposedly caused the crisis by being greedy bastards, right?

...Right?

But yeah, this is good to see. It was probably the most (and only) interesting thing I recall in the newspaper today, especially when it comes to the cuts being praised by the governments of other countries, and the measures increasing bonds and such.


It is good that they're standing up against this. If the government won't stand up to their sovereignty being jacked like this, the people must take matters into their own hands.To be honest, I don't think one could really say that any government has sovereignty presently.

[FSL]

Now, I'm sure we can expect Marxists in Greece to explain the origins of the crisis in capitalism itself and the falling rate of profit, so as firstly to make sure that people know that what they're supposed to be paying for is inherent in capital itself, and secondly to avoid the movement being exploited by populists and targeted against rich bankers who supposedly caused the crisis by being greedy bastards, right?

...Right?



Right.

[Tifosi]

It is all coming about at such speed, the workers of Greece are leading the way in Europe:thumbup1:

[Communist]

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Workers in Greece resist with fourth general strike (http://www.workers.org/2010/world/greece_0325/)

By Kris Hamel
Mar 21, 2010

Within a week after the March 5 mass demonstrations and general strike, tens of thousands of angry Greek workers marched through Athens to protest austerity measures enacted to reduce Greece’s debt. Riot police fired teargas as demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs outside the Parliament building on March 11.

Workers, retirees and youth took to the streets in 68 cities and towns throughout the country. Another 24-hour strike by public and private sector workers brought business-as-usual to a standstill. In Athens the rail system operated for a few hours to allow workers to take part in the demonstration. Protesters and striking workers chanted slogans including, “Real jobs, higher pay!” while banners hung from apartment buildings that read, “No more sacrifices, war against war.” (guardian.co.uk, March 11)

The Greek government has imposed further wage cuts for public sector workers, hiring and pension freezes and consumer tax hikes in an attempt to stem a skyrocketing budget deficit and save $65 billion. These cutbacks are on top of a previous $15 billion austerity plan aimed to reduce the country’s 2010 deficit from 12.7 percent of annual output to 8.7 percent.

The country has been under intense pressure from the governments of the more powerful imperialist countries in the European Union, like France and Germany, who want to keep a strong euro and pay all debts to the bankers.
‘’They are trying to make workers pay the price for this crisis,’’ said Yiannis Panagopoulos, head of the GSEE, the country’s largest union. (Associated Press, March 11)

Vasilis Petropoulos, a leader of the militant All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), was the main speaker at a strike rally. “There is no national risk. No national duty calls the workers to sacrifice their rights. There is only the greed of the capitalists for profit,” he said. (inter.kke.gr)

The March 11 strike and nationwide protests were the fourth such actions by Greek workers within one month. Even big-business-owned media in the United States were forced to cover the militant actions of these workers. Video and photographs often showed elderly pensioners and retirees being brutalized by police.

The Greek workers should be an inspiration to poor and working people around the world who are sick and tired of bearing the brunt of the capitalist economic crisis. These heroic workers — young and old, employed and unemployed — are refusing to bow down and “sacrifice” to keep the profit system afloat.
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Articles copyright 1995-2010 Workers World (http://www.workers.org/wwp/).
Verbatim copying and distribution of entire
article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.

.