In spite of a
massive mobilisation of the workers and youth, a movement of
revolutionary dimensions, the PASOK government managed to push through
parliament its austerity measures. This comes at a price, however, for
now the masses have had a taste of their own strength and have been
deeply politicised. The Greek Marxists of Marxisti Foni and Revolution provide here a balance sheet of the situation.
In spite of a
massive mobilisation of the workers and youth, a movement of
revolutionary dimensions, the PASOK government managed to push through
parliament its austerity measures. This comes at a price, however, for
now the masses have had a taste of their own strength and have been
deeply politicised. The Greek Marxists of Marxisti Foni and Revolution provide here a balance sheet of the situation.
PASOK government finally managed to successfully pass through
parliament its new austerity measures. However, theirs is only a
“Pyrrhic” victory because it was achieved despite the overwhelming
opposition of the working class, expressed through the mass movement
that lasted a month and a half and saw three days of general strike.
We
describe it as “pyrrhic” because the losses incurred by the government
were numerous and significant. Firstly, because it was on the verge of
collapse, revealing how socially isolated it is. Secondly, immediately
after this near-collapse, it was forced to rely on the repressive forces
of the state to terrorise the demonstrators. This brought into sharp
focus the class hatred against exploitation and injustice that the
government has come to personify. Something which is now common to all
the people is widespread hatred against police repression.
The
main elements that characterise the political, social and economic
situation in the country are as follows. The first is the profound
crisis of heavily-indebted Greek capitalism together with imperialism’s
attempts to prevent contagion of the global banking system and the world
economy through their “rescue” plans and draconian austerity measures.
The second is the existence of a government that has been weakened by
the blows of the mass movement. The third is the strong reluctance – at
this stage – on the part of New Democracy to take on government
responsibility, because they see this as a way of preserving themselves
as the political expression of the capitalist class in Greece. The
fourth is the reluctance of the left leaderships – with the Communist
Party (KKE) leadership bearing the greater responsibility in this – to
form a left political coalition that would state clearly to the workers
that they will take power in order to implement a programme that can
eradicate once and for all the very system that is responsible for the
debt, and for poverty and unemployment. And finally, the fifth and
decisive factor is the state of the mass movement, the stage it is
presently passing through and its prospects. We will look at each one of
these factors.
How are all these elements shaping up?
The
Troika by ensuring the austerity measures were pushed through the Greek
parliament, has simply bought time for the banks and global capitalism.
But as has been repeatedly stressed by the Marxists, the fate of Greece
is not determined by the intentions and plans of the imperialists, nor
by the domestic economic situation. Greek debt represents only one of
the hazards facing global capitalism. Along with near-bankrupt Ireland,
Portugal and terribly indebted Spain and Italy, the USA is becoming an
increasing source of risk for the global economy, with the rating
agencies constantly sounding the alarm about the USA’s excessive debt.
The
potential proliferation of countries that are in the "red" on a par
with Greece will create a widespread climate of protectionism, which can
lead to abandoning Greece to its own fate and being forced to exit the
euro. What this means is that although the austerity measures have been
passed and a new loan is being arranged, there is no way of avoiding
Greek bankruptcy. The financial turmoil will persist and intensify,
providing a constant source of political instability.
The
government although weakened will not surrender easily. Their isolation
from the masses is made up for, for now, by the full backing they have
from the ruling class and world imperialism. If the mass movement fails
to bring the government down through an intensification of the class
struggle, it will cling on to power and carry out as much it can of the
dirty work that has been assigned to them by local and international
capital.
The leadership of New Democracy is trying to reap from
part of the social discontent by using demagoguery. So far, Mr Samaras
has maintained a smart and flexible approach, appearing as “the
politician who resists”, while Mr Papandreou is seen as the obedient dog
who does not raise the slightest resistance to the Troika. But this
tactic has its limits. Once Greek capitalism reaches closer to the brink
of collapse or is in danger of being lost beneath the blows of the
revolutionary masses, then Mr Samaras will leave aside his present fake
populist stance and will participate willingly in a government of
“national unity” whose would aim would be the disorientation and
discouragement of the workers.
far, the political leaderships of the Left have been a key factor in
the, outcome of the movement. If they were to base themselves on their
founding principles, the two mainstream parties of the Greek Left
movement, the KKE and the Synaspismos, should be supporting with all
their might any mass movement directed against the ruling class.
Instead, the Synaspismos leadership’s passive stance, standing back from
the movement while the KKE, with their cold attitude and their absence
from the movement, practically worked to undermine the struggle, rather
than strengthen it. In spite of all this, as the the bourgeois parties
are going to be more and more be involved in the politics of “national
consensus” and the PASOK will not see within it at this stage an
organised opposition trend able to challenge the government from the
left, the traditional Left parties will inevitably become the first
political choice for a large part of the masses looking for a political
expression for their anger and indignation against the government, the
Troika and capitalism in general.
Pernicious role of the trade union bureaucracy
The
movement in the squares consisted of a broad, disorganised and
previously non-politicised mass. We had the over-exploited workers, the
unemployed youth, with university qualifications and without, the
pensioners and small tradesmen who are in a desperate situation, the
housewives and other layers. This had the effect of awakening the
organised working class and pushing the labour and trade union movement
to the forefront of the struggle. Thus, the general strikes called by
the GSEE and ADEDY [the two main trade union confederations], but also
the struggle of the DEI [electricity workers] and other workers in the
public sector became the “battering ram” of the struggle against the
austerity measures, the government and the Troika.
However, it has
to be said that once again the leaders of GSEE and ADEDY played a
pernicious role. Again, the strikes were called with the aim of letting
off steam, when what was required was precisely the opposite, a drawn
out struggle of such a magnitude that the government would be brought
down. Instead, two of the three days of general strike literally were
called at the very last minute when it was already clear that the new
austerity measures would be approved by a majority in parliament. In
addition, the general strikes were simply launched but hardly organised
at all.
In particular, there was no campaign to secure mass
participation in those private sector companies where there is no union
and where the bosses maintain a regime of terror. No defence was
organised on the demonstrations and rallies, thus they were easily
infiltrated by hooded provocateurs. More in general, the union
bureaucracy kept aloof from the movement in the squares and took no
concrete steps to organise joint action. This was in contrast to the
People’s Assembly in Syntagma Square that never ceased to call for an
all-out general political strike and joint action with the trade unions
against the austerity measures.
Typical of this wretched attitude
was the refusal on the part of the GSEE leadership to organise a rally
on the second day of the 48-hourt general strike. The ADEDY leaders, on
the other hand, on the two occasions they called the public sector
workers to Syntagma Square, refused even to set up a platform for people
to speak from or provide a microphone to spread the slogans of the
demonstrators. Disheartening was the attitude of the leadership of the
GENOP-DEI [electricity workers’ union], which immediately after
parliament passed the austerity measures, immediately called off their
strike, thus breaking the strike front at the most advanced and crucial
point. Finally, the leadership of PAME [the KKE’s faction inside the
unions] practically undermined the movement, by yet again organising its
own, essentially KKE, gatherings, both separate from the movement in
the squares and the GSEE and ADEDY demonstrations.
In conclusion
on this, we can say that while the mass movement in the squares showed
its tendency towards organic unity and was striving to be represented by
the organised labour movement, the bureaucratic trade union leaders
blatantly undermined all this, playing a very negative role in the
battle against the austerity measures.
We must prepare for the next round
movement has been developing over the past one and a half months. It
was not just the mobilisation of one section of society, but it set in
motion, and won the support of, the masses. Millions of people have now
been politicised. Within a short period of a few weeks many of the
deeply rooted certainties and illusions in parties, symbols,
institutions and leaders collapsed. Thousands of people took part in
popular assemblies and experienced firsthand the brutal violence of the
ruling class’s state apparatus. It is striking to see how many “peaceful
and law-abiding” people now believe that society needs a radical change
and have declared their support for violent methods of struggle as a
response of the people against the methods of the ruling class.
Of
course, once the austerity measures were passed in parliament, a
decline in the mass movement was inevitable. Participation in the
demonstrations in Syntagma Square began to dwindle, while in other
cities, the decline has been even more evident. We have to understand
that the masses cannot be constantly on the move. However, such is the
scope in the decline in living standards due to the crisis of
capitalism, that the movement has radically changed the consciousness of
millions, and this has already created a new tradition of struggle. The
masses have had a taste of their own power and are thirsting for
revenge against the government and the ruling class. Therefore there is
little likelihood of a drawn out decline of the movement, while at the
same people will be drawing important political conclusions from the
experience they have just had.
The main task now is to reorganise
the mass movement, draw the correct conclusions and prepare, the next
crucial round of the battle. Given the inevitable physiological signs of
fatigue due to constant demonstrations and also because of the
objective difficulties posed by the advanced summer season and the need
for time to prepare, the opening up of the new round will inevitably be
delayed to September. We also have to remember that strike action, which
is of paramount importance for mass class struggle, cannot be taken in
the middle of the summer, when most workers are on holiday.
The importance of the Popular Assemblies
The
Popular Assemblies can be the most effective way of successfully
preparing for the next round of struggle. Although, objectively
speaking, they cannot continue on the same level, size and frequency
over the next 6-7 weeks month, they should continue to operate and a
campaign must be organised to spread them to every neighbourhood. In
this, a key role can be played by the Popular Assembly of Syntagma
Square. Using its specific weight, it should issue a call to the workers
across the country.
We must explain that the balance of power
inside parliament was in stark contrast to the mood within society.
Hence the need to expand and strengthen those institutions that reflect
the genuine will of the majority of workers, i.e. the Popular
Assemblies, which are objectively cells of the class struggle, but also
an emerging, future power. We must gradually introduce the concept of
weekly meetings of the Popular Assemblies to discuss the methods and
demands of the struggle in every neighbourhood in the country.
Organise a long term struggle
24-hour and 48-hour general strikes that were organisationally
undermined by the union bureaucracy have proved not to be sufficient to
lead the movement to victory. Therefore what is required is that in all
workplaces, large and small, starting from the first days of September,
workers’ meetings should elect strike committees, to conduct a campaign
for an all-out general strike to be prepared in a serious manner. The
Papandreou government has lost the base of support it had among the
people and has in fact declared war on the workers on behalf of the loan
sharks. Therefore the basic demand of such a strike can only be for the
immediate bringing down of the government
The strike committees,
in collaboration with the trade unions should ensure the establishment
of strike funds and soup kitchens for the strikers and their families
who will have difficulty in surviving. Also, given the low participation
so far in a series of strikes in private sector companies where unions
do not exist, it is necessary to carry out an organised campaign for
mass participation in the strike. In those companies where workers may
face the sack or are threatened with dismissal solidarity action and
occupations should be promoted.
The extremely brutal methods of
repression used against the movement during the 48-hour general strike
have made everyone aware of the need for organised defence and
self-defence against the violence of the police and the agents
provocateurs. Therefore we must create defence squads on the picket
lines, in collaboration with the People’s Assembly of Syntagma Square
and other assemblies, which will consist of suitably equipped, fighting
elements of the movement and trade unions to combat police violence and
the actions of the provocateurs.
One of the key conclusions that
one can draw from the movement is that it must urgently give itself a
unified and genuinely democratic expression. This can be achieved
through a systematic campaign to set up a nationwide body of elected and
recallable delegates from assemblies and strike committees throughout
the country, which will be convened on a regular basis at the centre of
the struggle, in Syntagma Square and will elect a Centralised National
Action Committee, which will undertake the coordination and unified
representation of the movement.
In addition, the Centralised
National Action Committee should promote solidarity from the European
and international labour movement and youth. Based on the legitimisation
of the popular and working class movement, preparations should be made
to replace the government of the “Troika” and place the banks and the
concentrated wealth of the country under the control of the working
masses.
On the basis of such demands and plan of action, the Left
parties and trade unions should form a united front to fight until the
final victory in each neighbourhood and workplace.
Pre-revolutionary period and the subjective factor
mass movement and the successive general strikes we have seen in the
recent period prove that what we are faced with in Greece is not a
series of isolated struggles, or of sporadic outbursts of struggle, but a
situation where there is widespread anger and a willingness on the part
of the mass of working people to participate in a long drawn out
battle. We have entered a pre-revolutionary situation. We have the
increasing willingness of the masses to struggle and make sacrifices to
take their destiny into their own hands. However, at the same time,
there is the absence of the revolutionary subjective factor, i.e. a
revolutionary party deeply-rooted among the masses, that would be
capable of providing the correct slogans and methods of struggle and
leading the mass struggle until the final victory is achieved.
This
factor can only be built on the basis of two key elements. The first is
to defend the most revolutionary ideas and methods, namely the ideas
and methods of genuine revolutionary Marxism, which were tested
successfully in the greatest victorious revolution in world history, the
October Revolution of 1917. The second is the active participation of
every revolutionary in the lively battle of ideas and currents that will
start to develop within the mass workers’ organisations and parties
under the pressure of the movement.
The comrades in the
Synaspismos and the Youth of Synaspismos who support the bimonthly
magazine “Marxistiki Foni” and the weekly newspaper “Revolution”,
believe that the task at hand is the Marxist reorientation of the Left
and this today passes through the building of a mass Marxist tendency
within the Synaspismos. Such a tendency would be able to play a guiding
role in the victory of the revolutionary movement and of the ideas of
genuine socialism in Greece.
Source: Μαρξιστική Φωνή (Greece)