Greece: POE-OTA municipal workers’ union calls for political general strike!

The statement we are publishing here is of extreme significance. The POE-OTA (the official Greek municipal workers’ union) has come out with a call for a political general strike, which naturally flows from the movement in the squares.

This decision, combined with the massive strike on June 9 of tens of thousands of workers in the public utilities (electricity, water, etc., which are being privatised) and the public sector as a whole, is a major step forward for the mass movement which has developed dramatically over the last couple of weeks in the country. It reflects the will of the labour movement to place itself decisively at the forefront of the struggle of the masses, and shows its determination to escalate the struggle until the final victory. Below is the entire statement of the POE-OTA.

The coming days will be very critical as the government, with its adoption of the new memorandum, will lead the country and the workers into a period of harsh austerity, with a surge in unemployment, massive privatisation of public agencies and businesses and mass layoffs of both state and local government workers.

The new memorandum will result in the selling off of public property and the destruction of any notion of sovereignty, since all decisions to pursue any policy will be assigned to the Troika, whose representatives will be installed as commissioners in each Ministry.

Adherence to this policy is leading our country over the precipice and the workers to insecurity and to the loss of dignity.

This situation cannot go on for any longer. These governmental policies should be overthrown by the general uprising of the masses. The workers must play a significant role and be the driving force behind the solutions for the people and against big business and their political representatives responsible for the current situation.

The masses do not owe anything and will not pay for this crisis.

The Greek people must not be locked into a future of working hard and getting paid peanuts, just to repay the international lenders and usurers, while those really responsible for the crisis get richer.

In these days something new has been born in Syntagma Square [Athens] and the squares of many small and large cities. The masses are coming forward and the workers and trade unions must be there to give their own message.

Not everybody has the same level of responsibility for the present situation. Workers have struggled throughout the last few years, under the difficult conditions of mistrust from “public opinion” and defeatism, to condemn the government's measures and to keep alive the flame of overturning this situation.

The massive mobilisation of people did not come from a message on Facebook or through pure coincidence. Had it not been preceded by massive strikes and demonstrations, if it had not been for the major strikes of May 5, 2010, December 15, 2010 and February 23, 2011, no call on the Internet would have been successful.

The key message therefore is that all types of struggle are meaningful and add to the social alliance to overturn the government policy.

Now, however, we are at a crucial moment. The challenge before the labour and people's movement is: THEM OR US!

In this respect the Executive Committee of POE-OTA calls on all the unions and workers to put up the ultimate fight in the next few days.

1. We urge the unions to call a general political strike and a popular and long-lasting blockade of the Houses of Parliament to prevent the voting procedures on the new Memorandum.

2. When the new memorandum is to be discussed in parliament, the masses, under the guidance of the unions and in collaboration with other bodies, must meet in the council buildings in the capitals of all the prefectures, as local coordination centres, and discuss how to organise different initiatives to mobilise the masses and their participation in demonstrations.

In Attica, the council buildings that will be occupied are those of Peristeri, Nea Ionia, Zografou, St. Demetrios and Piraeus.

3. On the same day we must occupy the landfills in Attica and Thessaloniki and wherever possible, we should aim to paralyse all activities.

4. Participate in other initiatives to occupy public buildings and initiatives, such as not paying tolls, public transport tickets and the blockade of hospitals.

5. We are preparing a motorised march in central Athens and other major cities on a day to be decided by the Executive Committee.

Finally, the Executive Committee of POE-OTA calls on all the unions to organise discussions and inform the workers on developments, to prepare and coordinate with other unions and organise their presence in the popular mobilisations in the squares every day.