Protests in Greece - More News

24 hour strike of PAME in the public sector

“No more games, capitalism cannot become humane” and “Education, Health, Work for everyone, the plutocracy must pay for the crisis.”!

These were the slogans that striking workers in the public sector shouted at the massive demonstrations which the class-oriented forces organized in dozens of cities allover Greece. The workers demonstrated that in order to repel the anti-worker assault they need to rally militantly and organize with PAME. They came together with the generation of their children, students and school students who were demonstrating under the banners of the students´ militant front and the students’ coordination board of Athens. Their aim was to show altogether that joint struggles against the policies which attack workers and the popular strata on the one hand and on the other utilize the schools to educate the workers of tomorrow to be submissive, are absolutely necessary.

It should be noted that the strike took place at a time when the government is preparing a new budget, new cuts and new taxes for the people, as well as tax-exemptions for capital (while hypocritically claiming that there will be no new measures). A characteristic example of this is that the taxation of business consortia will be reduced from 24% to 20%, with even greater privileges for direct foreign investors (e.g. for Chinese and Arab capital, recently) to ensure their profitability. And of course the social democrat D Strauss Kahn , head of the IMF, has stated that new measures might have to be taken.

Lamprini Christogianni, a public sector worker and PAME cadre in her speech at the rally stressed that it is not enough “ to talk about the effects of these policies and not go beyond a description of the situation … What is most important is for us to understand that we can find a way out of this anti-worker nightmare… In order to confront this generalized and wholesale assault on the part of capital we must reject not only the memorandum but capitalist production itself, which gives birth to these crises.” In this direction,it is necessary “that the government of PASOK, as well as ND and LAOS who consent to and support these policies be politically condemned, as well as all the parties of the “EU one-way road” who sow illusions.” This condemnation must be expressed in the upcoming local elections. In addition she noted that it is also necessary that the compromised trade union leaderships in GSEE and ADEDY be condemned (who at an international level take their lead from the equally compromised ITUC) who support these policies, but were compelled by the pressure of the class-oriented forces to call this strike.

There followed speeches on behalf of the students´ militant front, the General Federation of the Parents of Schools Students of Greece, the students’ coordination board of Athens.