Mass protest outside the Greek Parliament in Athens on Wednesday

On Thursday evening, the Greek Parliament voted through its latest austerity package – approved by all but one of the deputies from the ruling ‘social democratic’ party, PASOK. Tens of thousands of workers will now suffer dramatic wage cuts of 40%, the slashing of pensions and the tearing up of collective bargaining agreements, on top of tax hikes and 20% unemployment (youth unemployment being nearer 50%).

In reality, the real authority in Greece is now the ‘Troika’, meaning the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank. These three institutions are holding the Greek government hostage, demanding the complete destruction of the country’s public sector in return for the continuation of the €110bn bailout package which is keeping the country afloat, if far from stable. Greece can now keep paying its bills for a few months more, but a default on their national debt in the not too distant future is still almost certain.

Wednesday and Thursday saw the biggest days of action against austerity in Greece so far. Huge numbers were on the streets across the country, as hundreds of thousands of private sector workers joined the strikes for the first time. There were chaotic scenes in Athens, as stewards from the Stalinist trade union federation PAME clashed with other demonstrators. Amid the chaos, a PAME supporter died – although reportedly from breathing difficulties caused by police teargas.

The world economy is in crisis: Greece is the testing ground – and austerity isn’t working. By forcing ever deeper and harder cuts – this is the third drastic, emergency austerity package pushed through the parliament this year – the government is facing the growing contradictions of the system. Minus 7 percent “growth”  is not going to cure the deficit. A default is probably on its way, and has actually already happened to a limited, controlled extent: Greece’s creditors have already accepted that they’ll only ever get back 79 cents for every euro lent. However controlled or uncontrolled the default turns out to be, the impact on northern European banks, and the Euro, will be profound, and there’s a risk the ‘contagion’ could spread to Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Greece has entered a situation where the vast majority of the population have lost all faith in the political system and the government, who cling on through necessity to implement the orders of the Troika. Class war is being raged by the elites, meaning the absolute destruction of welfare and living standards, plunging millions into poverty. The economist Paul Mason has described what’s happening in the country as “anomie”, meaning the gradual breakdown of social order through the effective withdrawal of the state from public life: schools without textbooks, mass unemployment, general lawlessness and, among swathes of the population, little hope that anything can get better – as summed up in this report from a few weeks ago.

Europe is watching: Greece was first, but will not be the last. Organise, counter-attack!

We looked on as the mass demonstrations against police brutality, after the shooting of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, escalated into an insurrection against the government in December 2008. In May of this year, we watched as the country became paralysed by consecutive general strikes, with again, hundreds of thousands demonstrating across every town and city. It was easy to think that such a movement was a Greek phenomenon, that would surely not, for years at least, ever come to the shores of the UK.

It’s a sign of how much things have changed here over the past month that, earlier today, thousands of Greek students were on the streets not just against the education “reform” of their own government, but marching in solidarity with the struggle against austerity in the UK. In Athens, two thousand students attempted to march on the British Embassy, and as the video below shows, they were soon set upon by riot cops, who blasted them with tear gas. Occupied London report that five students were arrested, and the march then headed towards the city’s police headquarters to demand their release.

Today’s demonstration marks the beginning of a month of demonstrations in Greece. The 6th is the two year anniversary of the police killing of Grigoropoulos, and large student demonstrations are expected. On the 15th, a general strike is to take place, and students are expected to join in huge numbers again. Like in Britain, the Greek government is currently trying to force through swathing neo-liberal education ‘reform’, with huge cutbacks in spending on education.

Meanwhile back home, the day of the House of Commons vote on the tuition fees rise has been announced as Thursday 9 December. It’s being labelled as ‘Day X’, and may well prove a key moment in the struggle not just for students, but for everyone else resisting Tory austerity. Huge demonstrations will be taking place, with walkouts from schools, unis and colleges. Details of events – in Scotland and elsewhere – are still being finalised, but we’ll be posting them up here as soon as we can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEz5J5ks_Zg

students clash with riot cops at the British Embassy, Athens

Tourists stream into the Acropolis, watched over by riot cops

For the past few days employees of the Greek Ministry of Culture who work at the Acropolis in Athens have been on strike to protest the fact that they haven’t been paid properly for almost 2 years (!) and that they are due to be fired at the end of their short term contracts.

Workers blockaded the iconic site, one of the most well known historical landmarks in Europe and a birthplace of Ancient Greek democracy. They stayed entrenched for days until they were attacked viciously by riot cops on Thursday. The stormtroopers of the Greek government, which has surrendered control of the country to the dictatorship of the EU and the IMF, chased workers into the building and beat them, attacked passers by and journalists documenting their behaviour, and used tear gas.

Around the world, the capitalist press has been terrified by the militant fightback mounted by the Greek working class to the assault they face at the hands of the government, and have been twisting the info that we receive about what’s going on there to suit their own propaganda agenda. In this case, they tried to portray the situation as a clash between workers and cops, rather than a blatant attack on workers who have every right to be pissed off, having been used as virtual slaves by their employers. Another key aspect of their propaganda has been to focus on the tourists in Athens who haven’t been able to get in because of the strike.

Riot cops use tear gas on workers

In the light of this, the workers decided yesterday to take a new tack. Instead of blockading the entrance, they blocked the ticket booths, and declared that everyone would get in for free! Whilst the site remains under siege from riot cops, tourists have been streaming in to see the jewel in Athens historical crown.

In an inspired move, they’ve taken away the classic justification of the government that strikes are “bad for tourism.” How can tourists complain when workers’ direct action comes without a price tag?

The Greek mainstream press has accused the workers of “tarnishing a national symbol” (so what was the behaviour of the violent cops doing for it then?), and Greek Occupation Overseer Prime Minister George Papandreaou said:

“Nobody has the right to padlock the Acropolis and make this world heritage site their private possession. [Why then are you making unpaid workers charge for admission?]

“Such actions hurt the country. They are fodder for all those who are betting on Greece’s defeat and now rub their hands in glee.” [In fact Greece has been defeated and taken over by the international financial institutions, and it's his fault. Fortunately the workers are organising and mounting a resistance with their militant fightback.]

This of course isn’t the first time the Acropolis has become a defining symbol of the struggle against the austerity assault on the Greek people. Earlier this year the Greek Communist Party famously dropped a banner from it in an image that made headlines around the world, crying ‘Peoples of Europe: Rise Up!’

But the action of the Acropolis workers has shown that strikers can be creative in the way they try and get visitors on their side, and given us a little glimpse of the alternative future which we could map out to the one our governments are enforcing of cuts, environmental destruction and misery: a future in which you don’t need money to see our history, and the heritage of the human race is available to all for free!

(The workers have announced they will make a decision about their next move on Monday. We’ll bring you updates as we get them.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CAoTUIM5w

Union map of where there were strikes and protests yesterday

You might not have noticed yesterday, what with the UK news much more concerned about what high paid cushy job David Miliband will be getting next, but across Europe millions of people were on strike and in the streets to protest the austerity policies of the EU governments.

Just like the ConDem government here, governments all across the European Union are making massive attacks on the working class, such cutting spending on vital services, taking away workers’ rights, throwing people out of work and generally making Europe a much more shite place to live.

Around 100,000 people took part in a Europe-wide demo in Brussels demanding an end to austerity policies. Delegations from 30 different countries are thought to have taken part. There’s some footage of it below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upouT9DsTBA

There’s some great photos from the Brussels demo here, but a particular favourite of mine is these two who dressed up to take the piss out of right wing French President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni:

Mr and Mrs Sarkozy

Meanwhile, in Spain there was a general strike, with 10 million people refusing to go to work in protest at the supposedly “Socialist” (the Spanish Socialist Party are more like New Labour) government, particularly plans to make it easier to sack workers and reduce the amount of compensation they’re entitled to. Protesters in Madrid went into any workplaces that were still open to hand out pamphlets and call on workers to join them, as well as blocking one of the main shopping streets the Gran Via. Throughout the different countries and regions that make up the Spanish state there were demonstrations taking place, and cops were used to break up picket lines, as you can see in this photo from Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Here’s some footage as well of the protests in Huelva, Andalusia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h88YHK73C4Q

In Barcelona, riot cops attacked and beat protesters, who fought back by torching one of their cars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LmL5T9iNFI

Update from a comrade in Barcelona: “Protesters completely occupied the headquarters of a major bank, and set up 2 huge speakers from the balcony which they used to give a running commentary of events onto the street, and somehow jammed the frequency of a local radio station so that it broadcast their speeches instead, clever stuff.

Nearby, a police car was set on fire.  Riot police responded shortly afterwards by charging into the crowd and lashing out indiscriminately with batons, which I suppose was ‘revenge’ for the burnt car.”

In Ireland protesters gathered in Dublin to mark the return of the Dáil (Irish parliament) into session. The Irish government is hugely unpopular for its austerity plans, and has spent €25 billion on bailing out banks. This morning came the news that the government is saying it will have to spend €35 billion just on bailing out the Anglo Irish bank. In the photo below you can see what people think about that:

The flyer for the protests in Dublin can be seen here. As part of the action, a cement mixer with “Toxic Bank” painted on the side was driven into the gates of the Irish parliament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QaJ3etB7to

In Greece, although the “mainstream” unions hadn’t called for a strike, public transport workers, doctors and dockers came out anyway. This follows on from the ongoing lorry drivers’ strike, which has seen supermarkets start to run short of supplies.

In Portugal 50,000 people marched in Lisbon and another 20,000 in Porto.

Here in Scotland the Scottish Trade Union Congress‘ “There is a Better Way” campaign did have a number of events to mark the Europe wide day of action. But what more can we do to try and catch up with our European friends? A good starting point would be getting yourself along to the street rally against the cuts organised in Glasgow this Saturday from trade union groups across the country. It probably won’t be on the scale of some of the protests seen above, but right now all across Europe it’s about kickstarting a movement that will show the governments and capitalists we aren’t going to accept paying the bill for their fuck ups. The rally meets at 12 at Buchanan Street subway.

One aim of the rally against the cuts is to try and build momentum for the all Scotland demonstration called by the STUC for October 23rd in Edinburgh (Facebook event here). It’s really important that both the Scottish and British government see there’s a real mood in Scotland to fight back against the cuts, especially from young people who already are suffering completely disproportionately from unemployment and the effects of the capitalist crisis.

PAME demonstration of around 10,000 in central Athens

Athens is a city that is acquiring a reputation for itself. When a taxi driver asked where we were headed with our suitcases, our response prompted him to ask “Athens? Will you no get caught up in they riots out there?”. It would seem that the combination of constant reporting of Greece as overtaken by bomb-strewn madness and the main Scottish reference point when it comes to riots – the Poll Tax Riots – has given people a distorted view of what’s really going on here. The fact is, the IMF are being sold Greece under the table by the ‘Socialist’ government (Read: Greek version of the Labour Party), and their conditions for giving Greece money to bail out its failed banks is that the Greek government goes about systematically destroying any vestiges of a welfare state. It’s understandable why the people are angry. But they are expressing it in a way that is altogether more concise and class conscious than any pictures of anarchists throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police while stray dogs look on cooly can convey.

What we attended today was not a Poll Tax riot. No banks were burnt down, no statues were defaced. What we attended was an eye opening experience that allowed us to see two things:

1. The diversity and competence of the Left in Greece
2. The sheer extent of the unbalanced and jaundiced way in which the international press have reported this situation.

The Greek Left

Evidence of a strong Left is not hard to come by in Athens; placards for today’s strike adorn lampposts on every major street, the side alleys have been flyposted comprehensively. Shop shutters sport the tags of political parties rather than ‘Young Teams’ and abusive slogans centre on the police rather than someone else’s maw.

However, even we were surprised to find a feeder march for today’s demonstration assembled ten yards from the hotel door (a pleasant surprise for foreigners worried about finding the demonstration at all) in the Metaxourgio area of the city. We only had to say “Mila Anglika?” (Do you speak English?) once before we were warmly welcomed to the demonstration by Maria, a committed Communist who looked more like a model than one of the masked hooligans that the British press teach you to expect at these demonstrations. She preached her party’s position with a fervour that inspired the part of us supporting the Greeks in their struggle, but depressed that Scottish tendency to prefer the self-deprecating and understated rather than someone who faithfully repeats the party line.

Despite her orthodoxy, Maria was more than willing to discuss a topic unmentioned in the British press – the effect of these cuts on ordinary Greeks. The ‘reforms’ passed by the Greek Parliament will halve the pensions received by Greeks immediately, plunging millions of elderly Greeks into poverty. Imagine the effects of slashing the basic state pension for a single person to £45 per week and you will get an idea of quite what it is that the Greeks are facing. The effects of the reforms on young people will prove yet more disastrous. Some of you may scoff on hearing that the Greek retirement age is to be increased to a mere 65. However, what you have not been told is that Greeks will have to have been working for FORTY years consecutively before qualifying for a pension – occupational or state. Combined with new labour laws designed to make firing workers easier many Greeks face the prospect of never being able to retire. It’s not just workers that are scared for their futures – university students are worried that the government is going to implement the English system of charging obscene amounts of money for the privilige of education. Sound familiar?

Greek communists hold the SSP flag

It is unsurprising then that a General Strike has been called, something that has not been seen in Britain since 1926. You may feel that these cuts are simply a more severe version of what is taking place in our own country and you would be right. On arriving at Omonia Square, where the feeder march was to join the main demonstration, we unfurled our Scottish Socialist Party – Make Capitalism History banner. The warm reception we received from Greek lefties would put their Scottish cousins to shame (“Whit’s that? It’s all in foreign, I cannae fuckin read it”).

We were both keen to learn as much about the situation in Greece as possible. However, as we talked, we could only spot similarities between the situation of the Greek workers and our own. Greece can boast a significant oligarchy that is famed for the extent of their tax evasion. Theft like this is repugnant at the best of times, but when the majority of Greeks face financial ruin it is simply egregious. The Communists know that a simple solution lies before the Greek people: stop the cuts by ensuring that the rich pay tax. However, they face the colossal barrier of a media that pacifies the majority of Greeks by telling them that the cuts are inevitable. Both of us knew that the austerity measures taking place across Europe are an attempt by the IMF to rid Europe of its welfare states once and for all. Both of us, to varying extents, felt the futility of trying to bring this message to a frightened public.

Despite the severity of the measures they face, the task facing the Greek left is easier – huge numbers of workers observed today’s strike and attended the demonstrations in support of it. Electorally the Left is strong with The Communists and The Coalition of the Radical Left polling a combined 12.14% in the last election. This share of the vote, I can assure you, will increase dramatically next time around.

The Communist group that we marched with were not (officially) the Communists at all. They were organised into a group of trade unions known as PAME . The march exhibited two qualities that the Scottish Left sorely needs: diversity and competence. The broad composition of the march in terms of age was striking. Unlike the official Communist parties throughout the rest of Europe (who mostly consist of pensioners wishing that the Soviet Union could be brought back) PAME was a vibrant movement of men, women, old, young and in between. Absent was the obligatory casual/alternative dress code of the Left in the UK – workers of all professions and people from all walks of life were in this march although a nice old woman did give us a rather fetching KKE baseball cap.

All Cops Are Bastards

How have PAME been able to achieve this? As one of their members told me, because they are concerned for “The person who only sees politics on the television”. The Communists in Greece appear to have recognised that the term Communist carries can be used perjoratively and they have therefore chosen to work in a ‘front’ organisation. However, they have not operated in the crass manner of the British SWP, nor have they watered down their politics (it would appear). While the Coalition of the Radical Left’s posters advertised trying to stop the cuts by convincing backbench politicians to vote against them, PAME had no such illusions in the Parliament or the system. Instead they are media conscious and organised; something that is not true of Left groups in Scotland. The demonstration was lined with men and women carrying poles joined together to prevent inflitrators and agent-provocateurs. After a careful and tactful explanation, a young woman called Eftihia asked if we might swap our red flag for one of the union banners; we didn’t mind, it was just clever organisational skills on behalf of PAME, and she stayed to engage in conversation with us for the rest of the march.

We later walked past the parliament, still protected by roving bands of riot police, and saw that there had clearly been a second lively demo there, although there did not appear to have been much trouble, and there was certainly no trouble on the PAME demo. The only peculiar incident we saw was an ambulance heavily guarded by police as it travelled down a crowded side street beside the parliament. The internet is scare with detail at this stage so if anyone knows what was going on at the tail end of the Parliament demo, leave a comment below as we’d be interested to hear what went on in other parts of the city.

The discussions we entered on media image taught us a great deal about the reporting of the Greek worker’s struggle in the British media.

The British Press

If you can bear it, please waste 1 minute and 48 seconds of your life watching this drivel:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10554059.stm

What a jaundiced pile of nonsense! At no point does the supposedly balanced Beeb consult the striking workers or tell their side of the story. As tourists currently on holiday in Greece, we have no sympathy for the tourists interviewed!

However, reporting of this crisis has been far more pernicious. Members of PAME informed us that riots that took place outside the Parliament in May were in fact the work of fascists in Greece, a fact concealed from the British public. So to was the fact that the bank workers unfortunate enough to die in an earlier protest, had in fact been locked in the bank by their employers.

This New York Times article is a blatant attempt to demoralise the Greek people and to prevent the rest of the world cottoning on to just how dodgy the tricks the IMF and the EU are pulling to continue to prop up a failing capitalist system. It proclaims the vote in the Greek Parliament today was a “major step forward in overhauling its debt-plagued economy by forcing through a pension bill that would sharply cut the cost of Greece’s welfare state“. When welfare states were conceived of in the immediate aftermath of the devastation of World War II and spread throughout Europe, raising living standards for millions of people, I doubt the progressives who created them ever envisioned the words “welfare state” being used interchangeably with “evil demon-child of socialism and enemy of all that is good and right”. The most offensive part of the article unashamedly claims that “By most accounts, the protests have been relatively restrained since three people were killed in an attack on a bank in early May — a sign perhaps that Greeks, while angry and unhappy at the sacrifices forced upon them, understand that they face little other choice than to tighten their belts”. This is pure fuckin bollocks btw and anyone with a couple of brain cells to rub together should try to see through lies like these. They’ll say the same when we in the UK finally wake up out of our daze and realise what 25 – 40 % cuts to all government departments is really going to mean for us.

Don’t believe the lies – believe the hype. Greece is a country leading a struggle the whole of Europe needs to join in. Hopefully the Unions in Britain will see sense and call a General Strike of their own in order to stop these cuts.

Greek food is tasty, but under workers' control it's DELICIOUS

As Greece continues to face revolt from the working class at the IMF/EU takeover of their country, in the northern city of Thessaloniki, restaurant workers have decided to take things a step further at their work.

The workers at the Barthelonika restaurant were told at the start of last month by the owner that he had decided, due to the poor economic situation, to close the place down over the summer, leaving them without any income, and that he would decide if they were to have a future working for them in September.

The workers responded that the restaurant was making a profit and there was no reason for the closure. The only reason the owner wanted to close the place was that it wasn’t making ENOUGH money – for him.

So, instead, the workers took the place over. Realising that the boss was in fact, like all bosses, just creaming a profit off the top of their labour, they decided they could run the place better themselves. Now the restaurant is working as normal, but with no bosses, no hierarchical relationships and all decisions being made collectively and democratically by the whole workforce. So far it’s been working out great. They’ve even been able to make sure they still get a holiday in August, and this Sunday instead of working in the restaurant they’ll be putting their skills to work feeding participants in an anti-racist festival.

Below is a translation of a text issued by the workers themselves explaining their actions. It’s unlikely that many SSY members will be in Thessaloniki any time soon, but if you are, you know where to get your tea!

“AGAINST THE CLOSURE OF THE RESTAURANT BARTHELONIKA

LET’S SUPPORT THE SELF-MANAGEMENT OF THE RESTAURANT BY ITS WORKERS

Since Monday the 7th of June we, the workers at the restaurant Barthelonika, have run the restaurant ourselves and for this reason, ask for the help and the support of all the workers of Thessaloniki.

Two weeks ago the owners of the restaurant announced to us that the establishment was not going well and that it would close down for the three summer months – and further, that it was uncertain whether it would reopen in September and how many of us would work – and under what working conditions. They also announced to us that all the workers at the restaurant would be fired immediately while firing compensations would only start to be paid out in October… that is, of course, if they had any money to pay the compensations out.

As workers in the food industry we know well that a firing in today’s circumstances of deep economic crisis and tough anti-workerist attacks would mean our throwing out in the cold. For this reason we decided as workers at the restaurant not to bow our heads and to take matters in our own hands. We demanded and achieved from the management of the restaurant to pay some expenses for the establishment and our own insurance – and we now have taken on the management of the restaurant for the following two months (June and July) while in August we have achieved to have our holiday as normal.

As workers at the Barthelonika restaurant we are determined not to allow the restaurant where we work to close but also, not to allow any restaurant to close and no co-worker to be fired. For this reason we stand in solidarity with the just struggle of our co-workers at the Banquet restaurant.

The restaurant Barthelonika will be under our control, through our general assembly. Decisions concerning its running will be taken by majority and will be respected by all us co-workers. Whatever remains from profit after expenses will be distributed equally among all co-workers. All of us co-workers will work the same hours, at the same positions where we were before.

We have also decided to offer a 30% reduction to all customers of the restaurant.

We call for all workers, the youth and the people of Thessaloniki to actively support our effort to run the restaurant, in order to save our jobs and not to be thrown out to unemployment and misery.

The restaurant Barthelonika is in the centre of our city, at 3 Venizelou Str in the Rogoti Arcade, 1st floor, tel. 2310 225 242

Opening hours: 11 am to 1 am. Closed on Sundays.

THE WORKERS OF THE RESTAURANT BARTHELONIKA”

SMASH THE PLATES OF CAPITALISM!!!

SSY has been involved in building opposition to the ConDem cuts over recent weeks, with our members taking part in last Saturday’s street rally against the “emergency” budget for instance. But it’s clear that if we really want to stop the neoliberal assault on our rights, we need to learn a thing or two from our friends in Europe.

- In Greece yesterday workers came out on to the streets in the tens of thousands to protest the latest stage in the handover of their country to the control of the IMF and the EU: the government is trying to raise the retirement age to 65 for men and women. Discussion of this began in the Greek parliament yesterday, and is expected to be voted on July 8th.

Demonstrators pelt riot cops with water bottles

The strike was particularly strong in transport, with flights grounded, railway links cut off and ports closed. On Monday, the courts had ruled a strike by dockworkers illegal, but they just ignored it. Early yesterday morning there was a massive police occupation of the main port of Piraeus, to try and prevent workers from getting in to blockade it. But, through clouds of teargas, the workers managed to break through and take the port from the police, and it was successfully blockaded until they left to take part in the mass marches taking place in Athens.

50,000 people were estimated to have been on the streets of Athens, and more again on the streets of the northern city of Thessaloniki. When riot police tried to cut through the middle of the march they were attacked by workers brandishing water bottles and their bare hands. Also, a small group of fascists appeared on the march draped in Greek flags and wearing military gear. They were chased away and beaten with their own flagpoles by strikers, forcing them to take refuge behind the police lines.

Before the demo some of the participants invaded a supermarket, taking food and other essentials which they then distributed for free to the strikers. This also happened in Thessaloniki, with those doing so giving out a leaflet explaining what they were doing to those who benefited.

Greek cops beat strikers on the metro platform

The police response was to wait until after the demo had finished, and attack people as they left. A group of riot cops stormed the metro and beat people on the platforms, as their colleagues did the same on the streets above. However, the demonstrators weren’t the only ones that were hurt by police, as two motorcycle cops collided in the chaos, knocking each other off their bikes. At least 13 people were detained from the Athens demo alone.

Greek unions have already announced there will be another general strike next week.

As one banner on the march read: “When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty.”

Motorcycle cops knock each other down. We say: (In a Nelson Muntz voice) Ha Ha!

- In the Basque Country yesterday there was a general strike organised by the LAB trade union federation, which is a socialist, pro-independence grouping which represents 70% of the organised Basque workers. This general strike was ahead of the rest of the Spanish state, showing the different conditions there are in the Basque Country, with their history of national and social struggle, than other parts of the Spanish state.

The strike was against the “reforms” being imposed by the Spanish government, which will reduce the time needed to inform people of being made redundant and how much redundancy pay they are entitled to; give companies more rights to breach the collective agreements they have reached with their workers, imposing new shift patterns, hours and duties without consent; and expands the role of agencies, allowing insecure agency jobs to be created in areas where previously the law said workers would have to be properly employed.

A statement from the Basque unions said:

“Of all the crises there have been, this one has worked out the cheapest for employers. They abused temporality and have laid off the majority of people without the right to severance payments. With this reform they are taking advantage of the fear that exists and they are attempting to impose a system that replaces those people that have decent conditions in favour of precarious staff. They throw people onto the street with a pittance in severance pay. And this reform affects all of us collectively. . . They are all very harsh measures that require a decisive response.”

Over 80% of industrial enterprises in the Basque Country were shut down, and transport was brought to a standstill. Over 65,000 people took part in demonstrations in all the four major cities of the southern Basque Country (the part governed by Spain.) Meanwhile, in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, construction workers have gone on indefinite strike.

- In Spain itself, unfortunately, many unions are trying to enter into a “dialogue” with the government to try and get the measures watered down, instead of taking militant action to try and defeat them outright. One notable exception however are the metro workers in the Spanish capital Madrid. The regional authorities there are trying to impose a 5% pay cut on them, which they are tackling head on. Normally during metro strikes the workers provide a minimal service, but this time they’re so angry that, for the first time since 1991, they’ve gone on total strike, completely shutting the system down.

Meanwhile last week there were other days of action:

- In Italy last Friday, the CGIL trade union federation called a four hour general strike, and for workers to come out on to the streets. The response was fantastic, with 100,000 on the streets of Bologna, in Milan 70,000, in Naples 70,000, in Rome more than 40,000, in Palermo 25,000, in L’Aquila 20,000, in Cagliari 10,000, in Bari 10,000 and across the whole of the Veneto region (in the northeast) 80,000. Over a million people were on the streets in different parts of Italy.

The streets of Bologna filled with strikers

The strikes are against the measures of the right wing government of media baron Silvio Berlusconi, and his measures to freeze pay for public sector workers and make draconian cuts to local government funding. The strikers demanded an end to sackings, more benefits for those out of work, and more help to defend casualised workers and immigrants.

Demonstrators across the country were keen to show solidarity with the Fiat workers in the plant Pomigliano, near Naples, who are struggling for their rights against a particularly brutal management regime. Many wore t shirts showing their support, and any mention of the Fiat workers at the rallies drew applause. These workers are represented by FIOM, the metalworkers union which is particularly left wing, and has driven the union leadership to organise the general strike rather than compromise with Berlusconi. They’ve called for a national assembly of all Fiat workers on July 1st, which promises to be a huge event, and for a national campaign of solidarity with the Fiat workers.

- In France last Thursday around 2 million workers took part in 200 different strike rallies across the country, as workers walked out over plans by President Sarkozy to raise the retirement age to 62. Transport, including the TGV high speed trains, was shut down, along with schools and shops.

It’s hard for people in the UK to conceive of a general strike, since there hasn’t really been one in living memory. A general strike is when a critical mass of workers in most different industry come out together on strike. Some socialists have seen it historically as a key revolutionary weapon in moving towards socialism. What’s clear to day is that it’s hard to see what less than a general strike would deflect the determination of European governments to impose a new age of austerity on the working class.

The good news is, at least one UK union leader has called for a general strike, even if the others are a bit far behind. Bob Crow, leader of the RMT transport union, says that:

Time to take down zombie capitalism

“This ConDem administration has thrown down the biggest challenge to the trade union movement since Margaret Thatcher took on the National Union of Mineworkers. I have no hesitation in saying that it will take general and co-ordinated strike action across the public and private sectors to stop their savage assault on jobs, living standards and public services.”

“The trade unions must form alliances with community groups, campaigns and pensioners’ organisations in the biggest show of united resistance since the success of the anti-poll tax movement. Waving banners and placards will not be enough – it will take direct action to stop the Cameron and Clegg cuts machine.”

Crow puts the blame for the crisis at the door of “zombie capitalism”, so called because it’s the fault of banks which have died but are being kept alive by government support, which they are paying for through attacks on the working class. In this way, the dead continue to have a terrible affect on the living.

We all know there’s only one way to deal with zombies. A shotgun shell to the head. And in this case, the working class’ best shotgun is a general strike.

Around 40,000 people demonstrated in Athens as part of another general strike, with thousands more in cities around Greece.

The strike was timed to coincide with the debate in parliament over changes to pensions. These would force people to work over 40 years of their lives, increasing the retirement age for women to 65 and for both men and women to an as yet undetermined level from 2020. At the same time, the amount of money received by pensioners will be reduced. Also, currently there is a list of dangerous and difficult jobs from which workers have certain rights to retire early – this list is to be abolished.

Members of the All Militant Workers’ Front (PAME) occupied the Ministry of Labour in protest, hanging a banner from the window read “Reject the Measures.” The building was engulfed by a river of strikers during the day.

Although the strike was strong and the mood is still militant, a lot of damage was done by the deaths of two bank workers in a fire during strikes two weeks ago. As we reported at the time, despite the fact these workers were locked in their work to act as a human shield against demonstrators anger by their scumbag boss, the government has exploited the incident massively to paint strikers as violent terrorists. Another issue the government has shouted about is the impact of the strikes on the Greek tourist industry, while at the same time they take away from Greek workers the “luxury” of holiday time or the ability to afford one.

Police repression was heavy yesterday. Hundreds of people were detained in order to stop them from joining the marches. A group of pensioners trying to join were violently beaten by riot cops. There are reports that members of the Greek anti-capitalist party SYRIZA were arrested en masse. A group of students were arrested as they left the Polytechnic School. Police once again invaded the Athens neighbourhood of Exarcheia, home to many socialists and anarchists, and occupied the streets in order to stop residents from being able to demonstrate.

The river of red shows Communist demonstrators last Saturday, something the Greek media thought wasn't newsworthy

The media has also imposed a virtual blackout on much of what’s going on. Last Saturday the Greek Communist Party (KKE) held a huge march through Athens that received zero coverage. And again yesterday, much of what happened was not reported.

But despite the repression, the government propaganda and media silence, it’s clear that the Greeks are still not going to just sit back and accept their rights being taken away. As one banner on the march put it: “These measures take us back 150 years.” The Greek working class is fighting not just for themselves but for us too, as we prepare on Monday to face the first of many rounds of cuts by the ConDem government, and we need to work out ways of linking our joint struggles across borders.

Just to recap: Greece is being forced by the IMF and EU to undergo the harshest programme of cuts, job losses, tax rises and general shitness imaginable. This is so the Greek government can receive a package of loans from the other European countries, in order to continue paying its debts to foreign and Greek banks.

On Thursday, despite a solid general strike and massive anger on the streets, the Greek parliament voted through the cuts package, by 172 to 121.

The so-called “Socialist” government (in fact a bunch of sellout traitors, comparable to New Labour) expelled 3 of their own MPs for voting against the measure. It was passed with the support of the far right.

Meanwhile, outside, 30,000 ordinary Greeks rallied to show their rage at the actions of the government, chanting “They declared war, now fight back!” The demo was the victim of a totally unprovoked assault by riot cops, as you can see in some of the footage below (again, the bangs you can hear are stun grenades fired by the cops):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pOMcy9hB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnymSfRHhzY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOIDuAhILvg

The cops over recent days have been fulfilling their role as the armed force that enforces state policy. They’ve gone on the rampage in Exarcheia, an Athens neighbourhood that’s inhabited by loads of young socialists and anarchists. The area houses ‘The Haunt of the Migrants’, a social centre used by immigrants rights groups, Left wingers, LGBT and feminist groups, as well as for free Greek language classes for migrants. On Wednesday cops smashed their way in and attacked people inside chanting “Tonight we’ll fuck you.” Police also attacked an anarchist squat, arresting 70 people and using live ammunition and grenades. And in the video below, you can see cops smashing a popular cafe in Exarcheia. At the end of the footage the following dialogue takes place:

[riot police man] Erase it now, right now. Why are you filming? Who gave you permission?
[camera person] Why?
[riot police man] Because I fucking say so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkQ4YsRlFxI

Following Thursday’s votes unions have put their members on alert for another general strike. On Monday the Greek government is meeting to finalise plans for cutting pensions, making survival for older viewers difficult. The next general strike will probably be on the day when these proposals are brought to be voted in parliament.

The All-Workers’ Militant Front (PAME in Greek), an alliance of trade unionists and activists, and one of the most radical groups of unions, has called for a massive rally of Greeks on May 15th. In a statement they said:

“The only solution now is the escalation of the class struggle of workers, self-employed poor farmers, women and young people for the rupture and the overthrow of monopolies’ policy and power.”

And the Greek Communist Party argues:

“The only guarantee for democracy is the people, organised around a programme of struggle with a specific direction, and endurance in that struggle for the change of class power.”

Greek PM Papandreou: Quick to exploit deaths

During the massive protests against the IMF/EU assault on the Greek working class yesterday, a bank was burnt down, and three workers trapped inside were killed.

This event has been mercilessly exploited over the course of the day by the Greek government, and by the right wing media, who are preparing the way for possibly justifying a military crackdown against the people. George Papandreou, the Greek Prime Minister responsible for pushing through the surrender to the IMF and EU, said:

“We are all deeply shocked by the unjust death of three workers, three of our fellow citizens, who were victims of murderous attacks.”

His comments were quickly echoed in media outlets around the world keen to talk about “murderers” and “murderous hooded youths.”

Let’s be clear, no one participating in demonstrations today set out with the intention to murder other workers. The government is desperate to distract attention from their historic sellout of the Greek people. But the internet is proving a key weapon of those same people in getting the truth out to the world. That’s why we’re reproducing here a statement by one of the co-workers in the bank, who worked alongside those who died today. It’s vital reading, and please do copy it, show it to other people, put it on your own blog etc.

“I feel an obligation toward my co-workers who have so unjustly died today to speak out and to say some objective truths. I am sending this message to all media outlets. Anyone who still bares some consciousness should publish it. The rest can continue to play the government’s game.

The fire brigade had never issued an operating license to the building in question. The agreement for it to operate was under the table, as it practically happens with all businesses and companies in Greece.

The building in question has no fire safety mechanisms in place, neither planned nor installed ones – that is, it has no ceiling sprinklers, fire exits or fire hoses. There are only some portable fire extinguishers which, of course, cannot help in dealing with extensive fire in a building that is built with long-outdated security standards.

No branch of Marfin bank has had any member of staff trained in dealing with fire, not even in the use of the few fire extinguishers. The management also uses the high costs of such training as a pretext and will not take even the most basic measures to protect its staff.

There has never been a single evacuation exercise in any building by staff members, nor have there been any training sessions by the fire-brigade, to give instructions for situations like this. The only training sessions that have taken place at Marfin Bank concern terrorist action scenarios and specifically planning the escape of the banks’ “big heads” from their offices in such a situation.

The building in question had no special accommodation for the case of fire, even though its construction is very sensitive under such circumstances and even though it was filled with materials from floor to ceiling. Materials which are very inflammable, such as paper, plastics, wires, furniture. The building is objectively unsuitable for use as a bank due to its construction.

No member of security has any knowledge of first aid or fire extinguishing, even though they are every time practically charged with securing the building. The bank employees have to turn into firemen or security staff according to the appetite of Mr Vgenopoulos [owner of Marfin Bank].

The management of the bank strictly barred the employees from leaving today, even though they had persistently asked so themselves from very early this morning – while they also forced the employees to lock up the doors and repeatedly confirmed that the building remained locked up throughout the day, over the phone. They even blocked off their internet access so as to prevent the employees from communicating with the outside world.

For many days now there has been some complete terrorisation of the bank’s employees in regard to the mobilisations of these days, with the verbal “offer”: you either work, or you get fired.

The two undercover police who are dispatched at the branch in question for robbery prevention did not show up today, even though the bank’s management had verbally promised to the employees that they would be there.

At last, gentlemen, make your self-criticism and stop wandering around pretending to be shocked. You are responsible for what happened today and in any rightful state (like the ones you like to use from time to time as leading examples on your TV shows) you would have already been arrested for the above actions. My co-workers lost their lives today by malice: the malice of Marfin Bank and Mr. Vgenopoulos personally who explicitly stated that whoever didin’t come to work today [May 5th, a day of a general strike!] should not bother showing up for work tomorrow [as they would get fired].” An employee of Marfin bank.

The bank worker’s union has also called a strike in protest at their deaths, however, they put the blame mainly on the shoulders of the government. “This tragic event that took the life of three of our colleagues, two women and a man, is the sad consequence of anti-popular measures that whipped up pop popular anger,” the OTOE bank employees’ federation said.

“The government has very serious responsibilities, as it seems it failed to take account the scale of the consequences which its decisions would have on Greek society.”

It’s of crucial importance that those of us standing in solidarity with Greece don’t allow the tragic deaths of Greek workers to be used as a propaganda tool that will help push through measures that will lead to (amongst many other terrible things) even more unsafe, deadly workplaces.

(Statement via Occupied London. Original in Greek here. Thanks for the heads up, Liam T!)

Update: In the video below, you can see the owner of the bank, a Mr. Vgenopoulos, arriving just moments after the deaths were confirmed. People repeatedly shout “murderer” at him. Around 43 seconds into the video one of the gathered people shouts: “how many yachts do you own?”, at which point Vgenopoulos signals with his fingers: “three”.

We’d like to ask George Papandreou, the Daily Mail and everyone else pushing the propaganda line on this: who is the real murderer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rJp6x7nDGQ