EVERYONE ON STRIKE – TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14
JOIN THE STRIKE RALLIES ORGANIZED BY THE TRADE UNIONS IN ATHENS, 10:30 AM
THROW THE DESPICABLE 13-HOUR WORKDAY BILL INTO THE TRASH
WE DEMAND A 7-HOUR DAY – 5-DAY WEEK – 35-HOUR WEEK WITH WAGE INCREASES
MONEY FOR WAGES, PENSIONS, HEALTH & EDUCATION – NOT FOR THE WAR MACHINES
The massive participation in the October 1st strike and the universal condemnation of the bill by the trade unions sent a clear message: total rejection of the 13-hour workday and “flexibility” bill.
The huge workers’ and people’s demonstrations revealed the deep anger that floods our people against the anti-worker policies of the government; against the unbearable cost of living; against the collapsing public health system; against foreclosures and evictions destroying families; against the exorbitant cost of education; against the hundreds of dead and injured workers in workplaces every year.
The indignation grows over our country’s involvement in the slaughterhouses of imperialist wars, over the billions spent on weapons while we are told there’s no money for salaries, health, or education; over the genocide being committed in Gaza by the murderer state of Israel; over the growing repression both in Greece and internationally against anyone who resists, as shown by the recent attack on the solidarity flotilla.
Now it is time to take an even bigger step forward, to strengthen the organization of workers in every workplace, to go on the offensive, to escalate our struggle until this monstrous anti-worker bill, written directly by the employers’ associations, is withdrawn. To open the road of struggle and victory for the satisfaction of our real needs.
How many medieval 13-hour workdays can fit in the 21st century?
The government and the big employers, following the EU’s directives, call it “modern” and “beneficial” for workers to work 13 hours a day!
For them, “modern” means turning our lives into elastic schedules with no free time, all for the profits of the monopolies.
They want employers to negotiate directly with each worker, even over whether they can see their children, go to the theatre, or take a holiday, shattering what remains of social and family life.
For them, “modern” means pushing working hours to the limits of physical exhaustion while squeezing wages to bare survival; cutting funds for health, education, and welfare, while showering billions for profits and war preparations.
They cynically call it the “right” of the worker to leave for work not knowing if they’ll return home, because with 13-hour shifts, health and safety measures are meaningless.
This barbarity has whetted the appetite of capital even further: during the consultation, employer organizations demanded to abolish overtime limits, to apply split 13-hour shifts, to extend the legal workday up to 16 hours!
ND – SYRIZA – PASOK abolished the 8-hour day for the benefit of the plutocracy
All governments of the past 15 years ND, SYRIZA, PASOK have voted for three memoranda and hundreds of anti-worker laws, implementing the EU’s decisions and directives. They set wages by law, abolished collective bargaining and collective agreements, imposed unpaid overtime, abolished Sunday as a day of rest, dismantled the 8-hour day, and imposed 13-hour flexible workdays.
Once again, the General Confederation (GSEE) leadership plays its shameful role
The majority in the GSEE leadership refuses to escalate strike action, as they did with previous anti-worker laws (Hatzidakis, Georgiadis), and even during the strikes demanding justice for the Tempi train crime. The word “shame” is too little to describe their treacherous stance. Workers must turn their backs on them and decisively defeat the line of “social peace” and class collaboration that defends the interests of the business groups and undermines our rights.
We call on all Federations and Labour Centers of the country, all unions of both the public and private sectors, to act swiftly and decisively to organize the strike on October 14.
Justice will not come through negotiations; it will come through the streets of struggle. No waiting for “solutions” within the limits of profitability and budget constraints. No illusions that salvation can come from the rotten system of war and exploitation served by old and new “saviors.”
There is no time to lose. We have a great responsibility to hand over to the next generation of workers more rights and greater achievements than we inherited from past generations of fighters.
In the era of artificial intelligence and leaps in productivity, we will not become slaves!
True modernity in the 21st century means escalating the struggle for reduced and stable working hours, for a 7-hour day, 5-day week, 35-hour week!
We demand real wage increases and collective agreements so that no worker needs to work 13 or 14 hours just to survive.
Our real modern right is to plan and enjoy our free time with our families and children, as we choose. Our right is to take part in the cultural, trade union, and political life of our society.
Modern and human is to put an end to the barbarity of war, exploitation, and poverty — for peoples to live in peace in their homelands.
We unite our strength with the striking workers of Italy and France, with dockworkers across Europe who refuse to be cogs in the war machine and fight for labor and social rights. The peoples have justice on their side. We will have the final word and we will win!
We demand:
· Withdrawal of the new anti-worker bill
· 7-hour day – 5-day week – 35-hour week, stable daily working time
· Real wage increases and Collective Labour Agreements
· Restoration of collective bargaining and abolition of all anti-worker laws undermining contracts and promoting precarious work
· Reinstatement of Sunday as a day of rest
· Immediate measures against high prices: reduction and cap on essential goods, electricity, and fuel; abolition of VAT and indirect taxes on basic needs
· Tax-free income up to €12,000 for all workers, plus €3,000 per child
· No foreclosures and evictions; protection of workers’ homes; reestablishment of the Workers’ Housing Organization
· Strong measures for health and safety at work. Our lives are not a cost
· Substantial public funding for health, education, and welfare, not for NATO’s war spending
· Stop the massacre of the Palestinian people now! The government must immediately implement the 2015 unanimous parliamentary decision recognizing the Palestinian State within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital
ALL IN THE UNIONS – ALL ON STRIKE – TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14
JOIN THE STRIKE RALLIES ORGANIZED BY THE TRADE UNIONS
IN ATHENS, 10:30 AM
