PAME wins the first place at the 28th Congress of the Centre of Athens Labor Unions

The “Democratic Militant Cooperation” (DAS), the list which includes communists and other class-oriented forces rallied in PAME, won the first place in the elections for the new Board of the Centre of Athens Labor Unions (EKA) that took place on 31st May and 1st June.

EKA is the biggest territorial organization of trade unions in Greece in which more than 450 unions are registered representing hundreds of thousands of working people who work in the Greek capital.

1422 representatives took part in the elections for the board that comprises of 31 members representing 113,722 workers that took part in the elections of their unions. The valid votes were 1,414. It should be noted that there were 330 fewer representatives than at the Congress in 2010. In addition, PASKE, the grouping of the social democratic party PASOK, participated with 2 lists. DAKE, the grouping of the conservative party of ND, also appeared with two lists, one of which was “New Course”. The results were the following:

Fadomduck2: NON OMNIS MORIAR: ΝΤΟΚΙΜΑΝΤΕΡ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΠΕΡΓΙΑ ΣΤ...

Fadomduck2: NON OMNIS MORIAR: ΝΤΟΚΙΜΑΝΤΕΡ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΠΕΡΓΙΑ ΣΤ...: Η σκηνοθέτιδα Θεοδοσια Γραμματικού ασχολήθηκε και κατέγραψε από την αρχή της, την επική απεργία της Ελληνικής Χαλυβουργίας, με σκοπό να τ...

International solidarity with the workers and the people of Syria.

PAME condemns the recent Israeli airstrikes against Syria. The attack of the Israeli government against the Syrian people is a part of the plan of USA – NATO – E.U. for the immediate imperialist intervention against Syria and Iran.

The main aim of the imperialists is to control the raw materials of the region and the energy transport routes.

The developments in the region of Eastern Mediterranean become continuously more dangerous for a more generalized war.

It is proved how dangerous for the Greek people is the participation of our country in NATO and E.U. which support in every way the war actions of Israel against Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

PAME expresses its international solidarity with the workers and the people of Syria. The Syrian people, and nobody else, have the right to decide for its present and its future.

We call the trade unions to condemn the imperialist attack against Syria.

The class-oriented trade union movement must strengthen its struggle so that our country will not be dragged in the new imperialist wars of the USA, E.U. and NATO which are prepared against Syria and Iran and to demand:

The military exercises and all the agreements of military cooperation with Israel must be cancelled.

All the military bases of NATO in Greece must close now!

PAME

Strike at the MEVGAL factory in Athens

MEVGAL is a company which operates in the Greek dairy industry. It employs 1,100 workers of all specialities. It is the 3rd largest company in the dairy industry and it exports to E.U. countries. MEVGAL dairy company has got seven factories, in Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Larissa, Xanthi, Katerini, Halkidiki and two subsidiaries in Volos and Chania.

The workers in the MEVGAL factory in Athens are on strike for 10 days, demanding their accrued wages of four months that the employer owes them.

The last General Assembly held with great participation and a unanimous decision was taken for the continuation of their strike struggle until the payment of all the accrued wages by the company. The workers are determined to continue their struggle until they will win and to throw away the employer’s efforts to blackmail their return to work without the satisfaction of their fair request.

PAME salutes the MEVGAL workers who give a hard but proud struggle and calls the trade unions to express their class-oriented solidarity.

PAME

The CC of the KKE organized a two-day Scientific Conference of Bertolt Brecht

The two-day Scientific Conference organized by the CC of the KKE on the leading intellectual, playwright, poet and director, Bertolt Brecht was concluded on Sunday afternoon (28/4). The GS of the CC of the KKE, cde Dimitris Koutsoumpas made a greetings speech at the conference as well as the Secretary of the CC of KNE, Theodoris Chionis. The Conference was held in Athens, in the packed conference hall of the CC of the KKE. A rich programme of activity had been organized by the CC of the KKE in all the previous months, with theatrical productions, film showings of B. Brecht’s works which were attended by thousands of workers who came into contact with the important work of the German communist writer, poet and playwright.

In his greetings’ speech , the GS of the CC of the KKE, D. Koutsoumpas noted amongst other things: “ In recent years we began this effort to organize scientific conferences, dedicated to the work and personality of major, pioneering intellectuals-artists, such as Giannis Ritsos and Kostas Varnalis. This year we are taking a daring step- I would characterize it a leap- by dedicating the Conference to Bertolt Brecht, the greatest playwright of the 20th century, director, poet, intellectual, politically committed to the cause of liberating the world from the exploitation of man by man. Brecht was a great communist intellectual, a multi-talented artist. He gave all his strength, concentrating on the problems of humanity, to showing –through his work- the path of liberation of man from class exploitation and war as one of the forms of this class exploitation(…) Brecht, committed to the struggle, displayed unique courage, the courage to place politics in art, politics as an integral element of art and vice-versa.”

Mass and dynamic Mayday strike rallies of PAME in Athens and 80 other Greek cities.

The Mayday strike rally of PAME in Syntagma Sq., outside the parliament, was mass and dynamic, sending the message that this strike battle was dynamically and tirelessly waged by the workers, the unemployed and the militant rallies of the self-employed (PASEVE), the poor farmers (PASY), the students (MAS) and the women (OGE) from the popular strata, in every workplace, in every neighbourhood. Mass Mayday strike rallies were also held in 80 other cities all over Greece. Thus an answer was given to the government’s attempts to move the holiday or strike of Mayday to another date in order to deal a blow against the historic messages of May 1st in the consciousness of the working class, which decisively demonstrated that “May 1st is not a holiday, it is a strike. It is the red day of labour, it is the bloodstained day of the workers of Chicago and the workers all over the world.”

The contingents of the trade unions, pensioners’ unions, self-employed associations, the student unions, the women’s associations, the People’s Committees and Unemployed Committees in Athens reached Syntagma Sq. with slogans and a militant atmosphere.

A large delegation of the CC of the KKE participated in the rally, headed by the GS of the CC, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, who stated that: “We would like to address a call for the people to rally with the KKE, so that the way out for the capitalist crisis in favour of the people and not again in favour of the monopolies, the EU and their system, becomes a reality.”

The rally began with a greetings’ speech by Ilia Ahmet, an immigrant from Bangladesh, who read the letter of the 200 immigrant agricultural workers from the strawberry fields of Manolada, who rose up against their bosses, having worked unpaid for months in wretched conditions. The letter of the workers to the strike rally of PAME was a message which recognized the historic contribution of PAME to their struggle.

May Day Strike demonstrations of PAME in 80 cities all over Greece

During the massive, central demonstration of Athens, a letter of the fighting, Bangladeshi, workers from the fields of Manolada was read, and it was saluted by representative of the CTC of Cuba.

The main speaker expressed PAME’s internationalist solidarity to the workers of the PEUGEOT factory, in France, who decided to continue their strike for 15th week!

It was also highlighted:

What is of the utmost importance to reach as main conclusion is: no legislation, no government ever gave away any rights to our class. The working class had never anything being given for free, the working class, at all times, imposed its rights, under its own laws, the laws of class struggle, of its organization, of its uprisings!

The labour movement history, in Greece, as well as internationally, is full of examples of which line is useful and effective for the workers. The employers’ and governmental trade unionism, the line of class collaboration, of social dialogues mean only subjugation, retreat, diminishing the demands of the workers. The 8hour workday, the social insurance, the collective contracts, all those achievements have in their core the endless efforts of the class oriented movement; they bear the sign of class struggle.

PAME