May 5 saw the largest labor protests of
the last three decades in dozens of cities across Greece. Rallies and marches
were held during a 24-hour general strike called by the general confederations
of private and public workers and the All-Workers’ Militant Front (PAME).
Around 175,000 people protested across the country.
|
May 5, Athens, Greece |
These massive labor protests were a response to a new, third round
of severe austerity measures announced on May 2 by Greek Prime Minister
George Papandreou.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the working class of
Greece. The measures are part of an agreement reached between the Greek
government, European Union and International Monetary Fund in an effort to put the country’s
spiraling debt crisis in check—at the expense of the working class.
What are the
workers protesting?
The EU and IMF will extend euro110 billion ($145 billion) in
loans over a period of three years. The EU will lend euro80 billion at an
interest rate of 5 percent and the IMF will lend the remaining euro30 billion at an interest rate of 3 percent.
Owing to rising fears of the crisis spreading to other eurozone
countries, including Portugal and Spain, and a sharp decline in the euro, the
EU and IMF, following a subsequent emergency meeting, announced May 10 a much
expanded rescue package, especially aimed at defending the embattled euro,
amounting to nearly $1 trillion.
The austerity plan seeks to roll back gains won by the Greek
people as a result of decades of struggle. This latest attack against the
people’s livelihood and income is the harshest and most shocking since the end
of the fascist dictatorship in 1974. Using a very real crisis as the
pretext, the ruling class is attempting to pass retrograde reforms that have
been in the works since the early 1990s but which could not be implemented due
to the workers’ resistance.
The working class is resisting this new assault as well. The
workers simply do not accept that they should pay for a crisis they did not
create, while the banks that helped to creat it are given bailout money.
Since the start of the debt crisis in late 2009, the working-class movement has
fought many significant battles, including a series of strikes, rallies,
protests, government building occupations and more.
The anti-worker measures
The austerity
program is sweeping, with government workers the hardest hit.
The plan will
slash 20 percent of public workers’ wages and all retired workers’ pensions.
Taxes on gas, liquor and cigarettes will increase by 10 percent, hitting the
poor the hardest.
Furthermore, the
measures call for an end to arbitration in labor contract negotiations.
Overtime pay will be done away with for many workers. Bosses will be allowed to
fire more workers with greater ease.
The retirement
system is being overhauled. Retirement ages are being increased by at least
three years for all workers. Many women will now need to work 17 more years to
be able to retire.
In the United
States, media outlets are focusing especially on the retirement age of workers,
as if this could have caused the economic crisis. In Greece, the general
retirement age is 65 for men and 60 for women. Workers with physically demanding
or unhealthy jobs, such as miners and steelworkers, can retire five
years earlier. Working mothers with underage children can get a small pension
at 50.
These rights
have been won through hard struggle. More importantly, there is nothing
outrageous about allowing people to retire at age 55 after a lifetime of hard
or dangerous labor. These are rights that should be enjoyed by all workers in
this era of highly productive labor.
Since
the beginning of the crisis, the Greek government has unleashed a dirty propaganda
campaign in order to scare, intimidate and divide the working class. Public
workers who have gained decent benefits after decades of struggle are accused
of causing the crisis while top-tier managers and bureaucrats who are responsible
for corruption and waste are left off the hook.
The
harshest measures target public workers as the government attempts to pit
private sector workers against them. However, the end of arbitration in labor
contract negotiations will lead to a race to the bottom for the income of all
workers, and the changes in the retirement system will affect everyone.
The
austerity measures will push Greece into a deep recession. According to the
government itself, this year the economy will contract by 4 percent. On May 4,
the stock exchange of Athens took a dive. The General Index lost 6.7
percent, with the banking sector index losing a staggering 10.3 percent.
According to Deutsche Bank (Germany) the official unemployment in Greece will
surpass 20 percent by 2012.
The
crisis in Greece has reverberated around the world, dragging down stock markets
globally. On May 7, the Dow Jones nosedived nearly 1,000 points before
recovering a little more than half the plunge by the close.
Greek workers fight back
The
workers’ movement is on an ascending trajectory. The International Workers’ Day
marches were attended by hundreds of thousands across the country, and were the
largest in recent years. On May 4 and May 5, public workers held a 48-hour
strike, and were joined on the second day by private-sector workers for a
24-hour general strike.
One
of the most significant developments brought about by the crisis is the
growing influence of PAME, which constitutes the radical pole of the movement.
It was formed in 1999 by the initiative of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
and other progressive unionists. Since its formation, it has managed to grow in
influence and significance, and currently is widely recognized as the only
major force combating the government’s policies.
PAME
and the KKE are calling on the Greek people to resist, disobey and refuse
to confine themselves within the narrow limits of what is permissible by the
government, police and laws that are strictly meant to hold back the struggle.
In the past months, thousands of workers have gone on strike even though
the courts banned their strikes. The court orders were in effect nullified by
the workers’ direct action and participation in PAME’s picket lines.
The
PASOK government, pro-capitalist opposition parties, the media and bosses
have formed a united front of propaganda against the workers’ movement in order
to scare the people into submission. The minister of labor falsely blamed PAME
for the crisis saying that without PAME the previous governments would have
been able to pass similar measures in the past and the Greek economy would now
be more “competitive.”
Other
pro-capitalist politicians and business associations are demanding police
action against the strike movement and are stating that the KKE is
“discrediting the country and hurting tourism.”
The size and
militancy of the protests has shaken the capitalists, who have unleashed their
provocateurs. Greek and international media are utilizing these provocations to
defame the movement and intimidate workers in Greece and abroad.
A great deal of attention has
been paid to the deaths of three bank employees on May 5. During the protests in downtown Athens,
an individual, likely an
agent provocateur, set a Marfin bank branch ablaze with Molotov bombs.
Three workers were trapped inside and died of smoke inhalation. The building
had no fire escape and the front doors were locked.
It was later revealed that the workers,
in that branch and across downtown Athens, had asked to be allowed to leave
knowing that they were in danger. The management however banned anyone from
leaving, leading to the tragic loss of three lives. The bank workers’ union has
condemned the bank bosses’ actions and blame the deaths on the government.
In a
separate incident, neo-Nazis and other fascists held PAME flags as they tried
to incite protesters to storm and burn the parliament building. March security
organizers prevented this and isolated and disarmed the neo-Nazis.
A
few minutes, later George Karatzaferis, leader of the chauvinist LAOS party,
accused the Communist Party of inciting the incident asking, “Has the
insurgency started? PAME was chanting ‘Burn the Parliament.’” LAOS has been
assigned the dirty task of leading the anti-communist, anti-worker propaganda
of the capitalist class.
International aspect of Greek
struggle
Capitalists
around the world are paying close attention to the situation in Greece. They
are worried about the debt crisis and its potential impact on the euro, other
currencies and the capitalist system as a whole. They are also worried
that the struggle of the Greek people may inspire the workers of other
countries to resist the offensive of their own governments.
To
that end, the international media are painting the picture of the average Greek
worker as a well-paid slacker, who enjoys ouzo, the sun and sea
and an early retirement and now must be rescued by the hard-working northern
European taxpayers. The mainstream media of northern European countries are
whipping-up anti-south racism to divide the workers of the continent.
Reality,
however, is much different. The standard of living in southern Europe is much
lower than the north, and is going to become even lower. The workers of Europe
as a whole are suffering, not due to other workers, but due to the same global
capitalist crisis, the same transnational banks and corporations and the same
government policies of bailouts for the rich and cutbacks for working people
and the poor.
On
May 4, members of the KKE held a token occupation of the Acropolis for four
hours. They dropped two massive banners in Greek and English reading, “Peoples
of Europe rise up.” This is the exact message that the international media is
trying to conceal.
Labor
unions and other working-class organizations from Spain,
Portugal, Finland, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Costa
Rica, Argentina, to name just a few, have sent solidarity statements to
PAME and KKE.
The
letters make it clear that workers around the world see the class struggle
in Greece as their own struggle and congratulate the Greek workers for the
international reverberations of the struggle, noting that the capitalists
should pay for the crisis they created.
Workers
of all countries unite!
Solidarity with
the struggle of the people of Greece!
