PAME (All Workers Militant Front), PASEVE (Panhellenic Antitrust Coalition of Tradesmen – Craftsmen), PASY (All Farmers Militant Coalition), MAS (Students’ Front of Struggle), OGE (Federation of Women in Greece)

ALL TOGETHER IN THE DEMONSTRATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 23, IN ALL THE PREFECTURES OF GREECE

IN ATHENS AT OMONOIA SQUARE, AT 6.30p.m.

They are increasing the heating oil, the Electricity rates, the VAT (Value Added Tax) …

Join us now! Common popular, militant action to stop them. It can not go any further.

No increase in the heating oil, bread, electricity rates, VAT. Abolition of the VAT (value added tax) in all types of  broad popular consumption products, 30% reduction in the bills for the people who are unemployed and underpaid.

We should not leave any popular family be condemned to misery, without having heat, electricity, food.

If the government equalizes the tax on the heating oil with the one on the diesel oil and if it increases the electricity tariffs, another very hard blow will be given to the already, extremely low, popular income.

What does this mean in practice? This means that the popular household will additionally pay 500 to 900 euros per year. Today the heating oil costs about 65 cents per liter and the diesel oil 1.2 euros per liter respectively.

A house of 60-100sqm needs today at least 1 ton of heating oil per year to heat with relative efficiency, during a normal winter in the cities and villages of the south, southwest Greece and the islands. The situation for the families that have in their house people who are elderly, sick, infants and small children will be unbearable, because these groups are more vulnerable to low temperatures.

The situation for the popular and agricultural households will become intolerable, especially for the families who live in northern and north-western Greece and wherever the winter is particularly cold.

The consequences on the health of the people will be huge, since the cold and the moisture in the domestic environment will trigger diseases, not only to the vulnerable groups but also to the so-called healthy population, since the heating in the houses will be reduced or cut, due to economic weakness.

The small businesses that use heating oil and are already in a tragic situation, will also suffer from another blow. This development will surely trigger a new wave of price increases in the products of broad popular consumption, since the burden of the increase will be incorporated into products and services, e.g. municipal and private kindergartens, in the fields of food supplies and leisure.

Concerning the electricity tariffs, the government will increase the already very expensive, electricity tariffs for the popular households in the next period, in order to deliver the “fillets” of the electricity market to the big capital, to create new fields for their profitability. At the same time, the government states that it will offer new discounts on the tariffs of the monopolies and the houses of the bourgeoisies.

More specifically: According to the plans of the government – capital, the popular households that consume power from 0 to 2,000 KWh per 4months will be burdened with increases from 15% to 50% within the next three years and the large increase will be imposed to the people whose consumption is lower, i.e. to the very poor people.

The class character of these brutal measures becomes even more clear, since for consumption of 2,000 KWh and above, the price of power will be gradually reduced for greater consumptions. New privileges are given to the “rich” households and dig businessmen.

The poor farmers will accept a huge attack, since an increase of 30% in the electricity tariffs has been announced. These increases will not only aggravate their living standards, but they will also cause a new increase in the prices of the agricultural products.

Given the announced bleeding of the people through the price increases in heating oil and electricity, the government of PASOK (socialdemocrats), with the support of N.D. (conservatives) and of LAOS (nationalists), declares that it will reduce the taxation of the capital profits from 40% to 24%.

These tax measures, together with all the above, foretell a predatory redistribution of wealth in favour of monopolies, at the expense of working popular interests.

You should not therefore expect from them to sympathize with you and understand your sufferings. They know that you are indignant and angry, but it does not scare them. They believe that you will do nothing and that you will believe their huge deception; that is a one-way road for you to pay the consequences of the crisis and the deficits.

The working men and women, the unemployed, pensioners, immigrants, poor farmers, the small-skilled tradesmen, youth must, here and now, rise up. We should not allow the government, capital, E.U., IMF to launch their new attack.

The heating and electricity are basic and essential social goods. Any increase in their prices will extremely reduce the living standards of the people, we should not wait. The immediate organization of a front against the coming antipopular attack in this area is demanded. We must now rise up and struggle together, uncompromisingly for our rights in full-time and stable job, in education and health.

We demand:

• 30% reduction in tariffs of the former public utilities firms and prohibiting the cut of water supply, electricity and landline telephone.

• Prohibition of price increase in all products and services.

• Subsidy for heating to those who have annual family income up to 40,000 euros.

• 45% factor for the taxation of the capital profits.

• Abolition of the VAT (value added tax) in all types of broad popular consumption products and the SCT (special consumption tax) in the heating oil.

• Immediate struggle against the expansion of privatizations of Electricity, Water, Telecommunications, Railways, Post.

ALL TOGETHER IN THE DEMONSTRATIONS

NO MORE – HANDS OFF THE POPULAR INCOME