On Thursday in Athens during the mass workers' protests we saw the state collaborating with hooligans and provocateurs against the labour movement. What is now required is a political general strike! Here we publish a statement by the Greek Marxists of Marxistiki Foni.

Today (October 19), the first day of the 48-hour general strike in Greece was sensational. Apart from the government and public utilities workers that participated in the strike massively, hundreds of thousands of workers from the private sector came out on strike for the first time, and also joining the millions of striking workers were tens of thousands of small businesspeople and shopkeepers who closed the shutters to their shops in solidarity.

The situation in Greece is becoming more and more revolutionary as each day passes. The country has been paralysed by a wave of strikes centred on the public sector and state owned enterprises, which is the workers’ response as they attempt to ward off the terrible attacks of the government. This wave of strikes was anticipated by the mass occupation movement in the universities and schools in September, which proved once again that the youth is a sensitive barometer of the class struggle.

The financial crisis in Greece is constantly in the headlines and focusing everyone’ attention on what it could lead to. As we have explained before, the reason for this is not due to the objective economic weight of the Greek economy within European and world capitalism. In absolute terms Greece only accounts for 2% of the European Union’s GDP and even its public debt is only 3% of the total public debt of the Eurozone. The point is, however, that Greece is the weakest link in European capitalism which is now at the centre of the global capitalist crisis.

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.

Yesterday the Greek parliament approved the austerity measures required to get further lending from the European Union. The PASOK government is determined to force through its austerity measures, even though 75% of the population is totally opposed to any further austerity being imposed on them. [Note: this article was written on the basis of discussions with the Greek comrades of the IMT, of Marxistiki Foni, presently intervening in Syntagma Square].

Today 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.

The powerful 24-hour general strike and the mass demonstrations of June 15 in Greece demonstrated how deep the anger of the Greek working masses runs. It served to send the ruling class a warning: that this is no ordinary protest movement, but one with revolutionary connotations. That is why they hurriedly patched together a new government, in the hope of cutting across the movement. But to no avail!

The Greek drama becomes more intense by the day and by the hour, threatening the stability of the whole European Union. Yesterday amidst a mood of growing fury on the streets, the Papandreou government scraped through in a critical vote of confidence as tens of thousands of people gathered outside the parliament building in Athens chanting: "Thieves! Thieves!"

Yesterday hundreds of thousands of workers and youth participated in a 24-hour general strike called by the GSEE and ADEDY (private and public sector trade union confederations), marching on demonstrations to the main squares of seventy cities and towns across Greece. From the early morning hours participation in a mass gathering to encircle the Houses of Parliament was enormous.

From early this morning, hundreds of thousands of workers and youth participated in the mass rallies during today’s 24-hour general strike, encircling the Houses of Parliament. There is no doubt that had it not been for the outbreak of rioting, with such a huge level of participation the numbers concentrating on Syntagma Square would have exceeded one million.

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.

The strategists of international capital are finally coming round to the idea that a new bail-out for Greece is necessary. With it comes an even harsher “memorandum” for the workers, involving the infamous “medium term programme” already announced by the government, which includes draconian austerity measures and the selling off of state assets. But now the labour movement is beginning to put its imprint on the situation.

Yesterday a milestone was passed in the social and political situation in Greece and throughout Europe. Impressive mobilizations rolled across the country: half a million in Athens and rallies  of thousands of people gathered in Thessaloniki, Patras, Larissa, Volos, Heraklion, etc. This places Greece on the threshold of a revolutionary situation. It means that, for the first time in decades the developed capitalist countries of Europe are faced with the prospect of a revolution with continental dimensions.

The situation in Greece is changing day by day, and is moving in the direction of a revolutionary situation. Starting on Wednesday, 120-150,000 people thronged Syntagma Square and other central squares in all the main Greek towns. The masses protested the austerity policies of the government and the brutal aggression of the European Union against the people of Greece.