The workers in the “Greek Fish-Farming” Industry are on the 3^rd day of strike demanding payment of accrued salaries and revocation of redundancies. The announcement of the Local Trade Union of Workers in Food and Drink Industries of Fthiotida calls for support and solidarity.

  By decision of the workers’ general assembly we are taking strike action in Greek Fish Farming Industry demanding payment of accrued salaries and revocation redundancies. The decision to go on strike was also a response to the provocative proposals of the employer, after our trade union asked a meeting for a solution to the problems.

The employers made two proposals which we believe are a provocation not only for the workers of the Greek Fish Farming but for every hard working people. The first proposal was to give 2 salaries less in 2015 and the second proposal was to accept wage cuts so as to take a little more money!!!

That is, when the workers have already suffered wage cuts three years ago and today the debts-accrued salaries in some cases reach 12 salaries at the same time, the company management proposes to accept to lose either 2 more salaries or a new wage cut so as them to give us something extra!!!

Furthermore, another provocation was that at the meeting, the company management tried to blame the responsibility to the workers if during the strike action is damaged part of the production. That means that not only the company demanded us to keep working while we can not live our families, but at the same time the company demanded us not to raise our voices, not to speak !!!

After all these, the unanimous decision to take strike action was the natural next step.

We call the people to stand on our side

 Local Trade Union of Workers in Food and Drink Industries of Fthiotida

Since yesterday the employers of Nestlé starting from the ice cream factory in Athens and then the warehouses, forced the workers to sign individual contract with wage cuts of -10% to -38%!!!

Unfortunately, this development confirmed the warnings of the Trade Union that with any government, the industrialists will be here, the exploitation will continue, it will continue destroying the workers’ wages and rights. The Nestlé Industry was one of the 11 multinationals in the meeting held in March 2013 with the old government to ask for reducing the wages so as to do “investments”. The attack against the workers of Nestlé Hellas continues now and with the new coalition government of SYRIZA-ANEL and we warn once again that the anti-labor measures will not stop.

Nestlé confirms:

• Rotating 2-day and 3-day work of production workers, so they do not have health booklet, and are not entitled to unemployment allowance.

• Dismissing of cleaners and workers in the distribution and re-hiring them through a contractor with half the money!

• Blackmails workers under the threat of dismissal to work to different factories, so as not to hire permanent staff.

The Nestlé is the No.1 global food company with sales of more than € 75.6 billion worldwide in 2013 (that equals 40% of the GDP in Greece …), with net profit of 32.67 million. EUR (!!!) in Greece the two years from 2011 to 2012. To achieve profitability it went on to layoffs, wage cuts, work intensification resulting in accidents, work for a few months a year and many of them through apprenticeships ie without the salary of the workers.

Delegation of the Federation and the Trade Union of Athens of Workers in the Food and Drinks Industries did an immediate protest yesterday 9/2 in the factory of Athens inviting workers to organize, not to sign the wage cuts and warning employers to immediately stop the anti-labor measures.

Colleagues, we were fed up these days with “national pride and dignity”, in Europe, in the lounges, in parliament and in the squares. But life for the worker inside the factory remains not only the same, but worse. We do not expect anything from the hollow and hypocritical promises to restore the minimum wage, to restore collective bargaining. Individual contracts under threat of dismissal like in Nestlé, shows what awaits us. Individual contracts to become the rule, that the famous restoration of the minimum wage will be translated into cutting all salaries to reach the minimum.

We call on workers in all factories of Nestlé around the country, to be fighting alert and immediate reaction if the cuts are attempted elsewhere. We call on the workers of Nestlé not to accept wage cuts and individual contracts. Even those colleagues, who signed under terrorisation and blackmail, join the union and withdraw their signature. We call on all workers in the industry to join the branch trade union and organize the struggle in every workplace. To fight to recover all the losses we had the time of crisis, to abolish all anti-labor laws.

The satisfaction of our contemporary needs and peoples’ dignity comes through the path of organization and struggle.

Trade Union of Workers in Food and Drinks Industries of Athens