CALL OF FEDERATIONS AND LABOUR CENTRES
To Organize the Struggle for the Restoration of Collective Contracts
To The Leaderships of the Trade Unions
To All Militant Unionists
To The Working Class and the Working People
Dear colleagues,
The Federations and Labour Centres that sign this call, we take the initiative and we address to all trade unions, to all workers to organize with determination, the great front of struggle to claim the losses we had in salaries, wages, pensions and mainly the abolition of the anti-labour laws that restrict or eliminate the Collective Labour Contracts.
Our losses are huge. Taking into account all the factors, we can estimate that the total losses in workers’ living standards equal or are close to 50% during the period of the crisis (since 2009). The attack in the minimum wage led to the workers’ income in 2014 to be even lower than the minimum wages of the early 1990s.
We address a call to join hands and struggle to shape the terms of counterattack of the class movement united, in every sector, nationwide. To struggle militantly, relentlessly, so that nobody will work without a collective contract, without consistent rights.
No sector alone, no organization alone can cope with the unified and planed attack of the government and the employers.
We need to strengthen the unity of the working class lines, its organization in the workplaces, in the sectors. Having as an action and centre of struggle every workplace, by improving the functioning of the unions, the struggle committees, we should rally and prepare forces which will come forward in this demanding front of struggle. By informing, rallying and mobilizing more forces. With a good preparation and discussion about the platform of demands, the planning and forms of struggle. Through joint action to overcome opinions that lead to dead ends, that say that “nothing changes”, “nothing can be done.”
No matter how difficult the situation is, much can be done, if we decide to show our real strength. Right now, what is needed is the organization of the struggle and not the “social dialogues” that the government and employers’ associations are setting up to trap us while they continue escalating the attack against our class. Our responsibility is to reinforce the joint action and the alliance with all working people who suffer, in the cities and the villages, just like us, under the same chains created by industrialists, bankers, big shop owners, ship-owners.
In every sector, in every organization and workplace there are possibilities, pioneering and honest forces not lured by the sirens of defeatism and compromise, forces with desire and ability to lead the organization of the struggle.
The workers, the unemployed, the pensioners, the whole working population gave the previous period very important battles against the employers – government – EU – IMF, having as a main front the planning against Social Security and their barbaric laws.
Labour Centres, Federations, trade unions, thousands workers rallied with PAME, along with many other trade unions we carried out multiform struggles with positions that supported the workers’- popular interests, indicated the causes and who should pay.
With the big strikes, the demonstrations, the blockades of the farmers, with initiative and planning, the movement showed that it is strong, alive and militant, despite the obstacles of the peoples of the employers and the government parties. It can be reconstructed, it can be strong and courageous, to reach the point of shaking governments and their bosses, contesting their sovereignty, their brutality, demanding a dignified life.
This Is Exactly The Perspective We Have!
Duty To Strengthen, To Organize With Our Position And Our Action, Our Participation.
Through these struggles we have achieved to:
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Reveal the anti-popular policy widely to the people, to prevent the government and capital’s effort to legitimize the measures in people’s consciousness.
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We prevented the employers and their political parties from making the workers partners in the implementation of the antiworkers’ policies.
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The struggles strengthened the steps of unity and alliance between the workers and the popular strata, the self-employed, the farmers.
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We created preconditions so as to continue, knowing that the struggle against the policies of the capital requires long lasting struggle, perseverance and class consistency, with alternative and continuous adaptation of forms of struggle.
The results so far should not satisfy us. We can achieve more.
The legislation of the “cut mechanism” and the new wave of taxation in the popular income, immediately after the “tombstone” in social security, prove that the attack does not end if we do not stop it! At the same time that the working-popular family bleeds daily, the capital benefits from provocative new tax exemptions; it gets fresh funds from the new development law of the government of SYRIZA. Capitalists are funded with millions; they are given away debts of millions. Millions that came from our blood, the huge losses in the labour income, in the social benefits.
The “development” about which the Greek Government with the EU, IMF, and the Greek Capitalists preach about, will be watered with the blood of the children of the working class, condemned to unemployment, cheap labour and flexible work! The employers crush what is left of the Collective Contracts and promote new unacceptable agreements through puppet organizations. The SEV (Greek Industrialists Union) is openly demanding that all rights and benefits be abolished (new cuts of 10% in all wages). They demand legislation that will abolish the right to strike and restrict further trade union action.
That means that they have their own plan to further cut wages and social benefits.
The working class needs its own plan not only to stop the new attack, but to claim back the huge losses that it had, based on its contemporary needs!
We do not compromise with hunger- wages, with jobs without rights.
The needs of the working class can in no way identify with the goals of the capitalists for competitiveness, profitability, earnings recovery. The enemies of our class are trying to convince us to the contrary, to make us fall back from our fair demands.
No retreat has ever helped. Each retreat made the employers even more aggressive. That’s how we have reached to this point! We do not accept to work for “tips”, while we are the ones who produce the wealth. If the working class does not organize its struggle there will be no hope, even in the case that some recovery of profits may come.
We are well aware of the fact that our exploiters have been armed by the governments of recent years with a strong anti-labour legislation. The political parties that voted together, in favour of the third memorandum, they support the EU and the capitalist path of development, they constitute a powerful Black Front against the working class and the people.
They are not invincible!
They seem invincible because the workers have not yet tested their enormous power.
We strengthen our struggle for increases in salaries and pensions, social benefits.
We demand the recovery of our losses, of all these that they have stolen from us, they took away from us, everything that is our right based on the wealth we produce and our contemporary needs.
We propose to discuss and decide the following framework of struggle:
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To demand the restoration of the minimum wage, the abolition of the anti-labour framework for the Collective Contracts and the restoration of the sectoral collective bargaining. Our rights, our stolen sweat and blood are neither behind us, nor forgotten.
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To demand the abolition of the new payroll and the reactionary assessment in the public sector, the restoration of the 13th and 14th salary, the cover of losses of the civil servants.
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To demand Collective Labour Contracts with wage increases on the basis of the huge losses in the workers’ income in every branch and workplace.
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To demand the restoration of the reduced pensions and benefits.
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To demand the protection of the unemployed by increasing the unemployment benefit.
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To stop the tax-theft of the workers.
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To make the industrialists, bankers and ship-owners pay.
Based on this framework, each sector, each trade union has to assume its share of responsibility in the united, joint struggle of the working class. In the paths of the struggle we will be all judged and we can all meet to form a single and stable front of struggle.
*Till Today, August 26th, 2016 the above Call has been co-signed by
