Today (Tuesday) the
Greek trade unions embarked on a 48-hour general strike against the
austerity measures which are being debated today and are to be voted on
tomorrow. Papandreou says the cuts and privatisations are the only way
of rebalancing Greece’s finances, but the workers and youth on the
streets have other ideas.
Today (Tuesday) the
Greek trade unions embarked on a 48-hour general strike against the
austerity measures which are being debated today and are to be voted on
tomorrow. Papandreou says the cuts and privatisations are the only way
of rebalancing Greece’s finances, but the workers and youth on the
streets have other ideas.
Jun 5, Syntagma Square. Photo: George AmpartzidisThe
Greek parliament is being called on to vote the new austerity package
as a condition for receiving another bail-out of €12bn. If it doesn’t
then Greece would default, setting in motion a European-wide financial
crisis.
In spite of all the appeals from the PASOK leaders, the
people on the streets are determined to make their voice heard and up to
75% of the population is of the opinion that it is not the workers who
should pay for this crisis, which is not of their making.
We will
publish tomorrow reports on the events that have started today. In the
meantime we publish a statement issued today by the Greek Marxists of Marxistsiki Foni,
which calls for the 48-hour general strike to be extended into an all
out strike to bring down the government, stop the austerity measures and
cancel the debt.
—
The 48-hour general
strike that begins today is a turning point for the class struggle in
Greek society. It marks the culmination of the mass movement that has
shaken the country to its foundations for the past month, a movement
that is firmly being led by the working class.
The battle
is a decisive one. On one side is the working people that realizes every
effort must be made to win, otherwise there is everything to lose. On
the other hand, there is the government backed by all the powerful
forces, not only the Greek ruling class, not just the millionaires who
have invested in Greek debt – that is, in the poverty and misery
afflicting the Greek people – but all the forces of world imperialism.
In
spite of whether the austerity measures will be approved in parliament
and by how many votes, the struggle must continue. The government and
its backers have shown that they are ruthless and determined to destroy
our elementary rights to save this decadent, parasitic and corrupt
system. That is why the 48-hour general strike on its own is not enough
to win this battle. We must transform it into an all out general strike
until the government falls and all the laws and austerity measures
imposed by the usurers and moneylenders are repealed and a new
government is elected, one that is accountable to the popular
assemblies, one that will cancel the predatory debt and place the banks
and commanding heights of the economy under social ownership and
workers’ control.
“Marxist Foni” is of the opinion that it is
necessary to transform this 48-hour general strike into an all out
extended political general strike and for the movement to adopt the
following measures:
To elect strike committees through assemblies
in the workplaces that will coordinate the strike locally in
coordination with committees of struggle elected by the popular
assemblies, then coming together at national-level as a Centralised
National Action Committee.
- The strike committees should
conduct an organized campaign for mass participation in the strike in
the workplaces where private sector unions do not exist. If any company
dares to sack workers who participate in the strike these workplaces
should be occupied. - In a joint effort, labour and popular
assemblies have to discuss and organize the setting up of strike funds
to support the strikers and organise soup kitchens for those working
class families that would have difficulty in surviving. - Picket
lines must be organised at each workplace. With the cooperation of the
pickets and the People’s Assembly of Syntagma Square, defence squads of
the most decisive and strongest sections of the movement must be
immediately set up, adequately equipped to protect the mass
demonstrations and rallies against the violent actions of disguised
police agents provocateurs. - The all out political general strike
raises the question of power and the movement must therefore have a
clear and unambiguous answer to this question. The Centralised National
Action Committee, elected through the labour and popular assemblies,
should be ready to replace the power of the “troika” and the banks and
place the concentrated wealth of the country under the control of the
masses.
