Thousands of workers took to the streets of major cities of Greece on Saturday, December 17 expressing their opposition to the antipeople’s state budget and the policy that plunders wokrers’ income and shrinks state funding for the needs of the people. Policies aiming to ensure money, subsidies and tax exemptions for business groups.
A big rally took place in Athens, in front of the Parliament where the class unions called for a continuation and escalation of the struggle for Collective Agreements, wage increases, measures to protect against poverty and energy poverty, protection of people’s housing from the wave of auctions.
Big massive rally of the people of Athens today for wage increases & measures against inflation
Special moment greeting from Elan Passe Roma Association against racism, police shootings & violence pic.twitter.com/RSgU8zUO0m
— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) December 17, 2022
Also, at the main rally of Athens also took the floor the President of ELAN PASSE All Greece Roma Association, denouncing racism and the murderous attacks against Roma by the police.
NOW
Thousands demonstrate in Athens in front of the Greek Parliament
Now pay rise for the workers
Now measures against inflation pic.twitter.com/api1aLVTHc— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) December 17, 2022
PAME secretariat Member Valsamos Syrigos noted in the main speech
“The legacy left by the November 9 strike is important, its success shows the way to escalation… This escalation will not come automatically, with the declaration of the nationwide strike that we will seek to do in the immediate future, but with the work of the unions in the production areas, where small foci of claim and struggle will break out, which will lead de facto and by necessity to a generalized, nationwide strike struggle. Every day that passes proves the deterioration of living and working conditions for the vast majority of the working people.
It won’t be long before the elections come, where the people will be asked to vote for an administrator. From this platform, of course, we cannot make a call on who to vote for. But one thing is certain: The day after the election, whoever is in power will crush our lives for the next 4 years. The answer to the brutality, before and after the elections, is how strong the workers’ and people’s movement will be. How organized will the people be to fight for increases, to fight to keep from being pushed out, to fight against violence and repression. How will it build its own scenario against the anti-people scenarios of the capitalist path of development, scenarios which, in order to save their rotten system, do not hesitate to have again in the plan the unravelling of the Nazis, in the same or another cloak.”
Photos https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAjrXz