Greece

Yesterday Greece was shaken by a massive 24 hour general strike. In some sectors there was a total walk out, and in industry as a whole 70% of the workers came out. This is the answer of the Greek working class to the government’s severe austerity measures. The task now is to build on this and keep up the pressure to get the whole package withdrawn.

What should a genuine socialist government do in the face of the severe economic and financial crisis that has hit Greece? The only real answer is a socialist programme based on the nationalisation of the banks and the commanding heights of the economy. There is no other way out. [This article was published in the latest issue of the Greek Marxist paper Marxistiki Foni, Marxist Voice, of the Marxists inside the Synaspismos party.]

The crisis of Greek capitalism is clear for all to see. The bosses want draconian economic policies to be implemented, but the workers have already given more than they can afford to give. Bosses and workers are on a collision course as the call for a 24-hour general strike on February 24 clearly demonstrates.

Greek capitalism is in a deep crisis. It is the weak link in the chain and it is beginning to break. The country risks defaulting on its debt repayments, posing a serious threat to the stability of the euro. Severe austerity measures are being imposed and these are provoking a working class backlash.

A major trade union conflict erupted in October in the Piraeus Port Authority, where dockworkers are fighting attempts to destroy all their hard-won rights, of privatisation of the port which is being handed over to COSCO, a Chinese company. After a two week strike they suspended their action awaiting results of negotiation. Now they have taken up strike action again.

The recent elections in Greece saw a massive shift to the left in Greek society, with a total of 56% of the electorate voting for the left parties. The PASOK alone received almost 44%. This is a vote that rejects the austerity measures of the outgoing conservative ND government. The problem is that the PASOK leaders are promising more of the same. For the workers this vote was a victory, but they did not vote for more cuts. This opens the prospect of renewed class struggle in the coming period.

On Thursday, April 2, in Greece there was a general strike. A mood of distrust of the trade union leadership emerged in the discussions with the workers. On the other hand all the workers participating in the demonstrations expressed a desire for an escalation of the struggle.

The huge eruption of youth protests in Greece in December have receded. The key element in explaining this was the role played by the leaders of the main workers' parties, who rather than build up the protest and involve the labour movement as a whole, worked to re-establish calm. Here the Greek Marxists explain the background to how this came about, but also stress the generalised mood of protest is simmering below the surface preparing new social explosions.

The events that have unfolded over the past month in Greece have revealed the immense revolutionary potential that had accumulated below the surface of society. The anger of the youth can only be explained by the severe crisis of capitalism afflicting the country, a reflection of the international economic crisis. And the conditions that exist in Greece are the same that exist across the whole of Europe.

The situation in Greece is growing ever more tense with each hour that passes. Today the country is being rocked by a general strike, while the youth continue to mobilise massively. In this situation the state is exploiting lumpen and ultra-left groups to portray the movement as a crazy violent outburst of criminal elements, but the anger of the Greek workers and youth cannot be calmed with these methods.