Comrades, we welcome in our turn on behalf of PAME from Greece, our congress. A congress that we believe can give new impetus to the struggles of the working class, to the development of internationalist solidarity and to the special work of the trade unions on the problems of the youth.
We especially thank our comrades from Marseille for their hospitality, but also the WFTU for its steadfast solidarity with the struggles of the workers of Greece. We feel honoured to be with comrades who fought great struggles in their countries. As here in France, where their magnificent strikes have been a beacon of optimism, an example in our country, proof that with class struggle everything can change, nothing remains fixed.
We take strength from the great struggles of workers and youth all over the world, such as the strikes in Germany, the USA, Spain, Great Britain, etc. for wage increases and collective agreements. The worldwide wave of mobilizations involving young people, students, pupils in solidarity with the people of Palestine against the murderer state of Israel gives us great optimism.
We gain strength when the working class sees and acts on what unites peoples and not on what they try to convince us that divides us. That is why, with internationalist solidarity as our firm principle, the trade unions in Greece were from the very first moment on the side of the Turkish and Syrian people after the devastating earthquakes of 2023, with the collection of essentials, voluntary blood donations, etc.
We were at the side of the workers of France, sending delegations of support to their struggle. We acted daily and steadfastly against all imperialist plans, putting into practice the demand of all peoples: ” Free Palestine!”. In Greece we organized hundreds of rallies and demonstrations against the murderer state of Israel. But also recently the Cosco dockers, who refused to load a ship with weapons going to Israel. And they succeeded!!! Putting a stop to the war plans.
Comrades, we come here from Greece to exchange experience coming out of a series of big strike battles culminating in the massive and successful General Strike of the 20th of November and the PAME congress, where this year over 600 unions and 2,000 trade unionists from 530 unions and 1200 delegates participated 2 years ago. We continue with more forces to organise the struggle, to rally even more workers in the unions and to build new ones.
We know that the correlations remain negative for the working class internationally. But we do not say this with fatalism, but as a condition that raises the demands for organizing the struggle, in our country and internationally. Because we see that along with the difficulties and obstacles, new possibilities are emerging. We see new forces, new unions, new trade unionists coming to the fore and giving us new strength to overturn this correlation.
One example is how the youth are standing up to imperialist war. Today, when youth all over the planet are facing the intensification of the imperialist antagonisms between the US-NATO-EU on the one hand and China-Russia on the other. Today when we see the antagonisms expressed in wars on the territory of Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, the Middle East as a whole and elsewhere, developments that cause fear and anxiety for the future of all of us.
So today we want to tell you that in Greece, many young workers who are doing their military service in the army, participate with their military uniforms in the rallies and declare their opposition to the imperialist war, to stop Greece’s participation in any way, shouting with the people FREE PALESTINE! In fact, for this stand they are punished by the government with prison sentences!
In the face of repression and intimidation, we respond with a huge wave of solidarity from hundreds of organizations in support of these young soldiers, against the wars of the imperialists.
Every young person may without understanding why, but they feel that things are getting harder. Rising costs of living, frozen wages, a blow to rights. Various signs from major capitalist powers indicate that we are facing a new crisis of the capitalist system. In which the capitalists will launch a new attack on the workers. For our part, we must prepare the trade unions and the working class in general to be ready for any eventuality, with strong organisational structures and militant leaderships against the bourgeoisie and its mechanisms in every country.
In my country, in Greece, such a development was expressed when the state railway crime in the area of Tempe. In particular, after the government had privatised the railways, reduced staff and security measures. Thus two trains collided, resulting in the death of 57 people, most of them young students. This event triggered a huge weeks-long struggle with the participation of millions in the strikes and mobilizations that were organized. Of particular importance was the large participation of youth, students and pupils in coordination with the class unions and their demands. Demands for protection of health and safety at workplaces, safe railways, public children and health, wage increases under the slogan “Their profits or our lives” were united!
Unfortunately, we must note that in this huge struggle, there were also forces that put obstacles in the way. In particular, the members of ITUC in Greece, the GSEE called for a strike, trying to support the government and the monopolies of the sector. This is of course not surprising as these are the same forces that are dividing the workers, refusing to enroll young people in the unions, with the excuse either that they work on fixed-term contracts or through contractors, which they themselves signed and legalized so that young workers are unorganized, weak in the face of the employers.
Against this direction, the class unions in Greece have fought for the class unity and organisation of the working class, against divisions, regardless of nationality, race, colour, gender, religion or age. We were in the places where the youth works, lives and studies. We supported the great struggles of students and pupils for Free Public Education. We fought together workers and students to prevent the imposition of police in universities and we succeeded! In the great struggles under the slogan “their profits or our lives” the students demanded together with the workers, and in this way thousands of young people joined in the unions. But also within the student movement, we won in the student elections more than 50% of the student unions to rally with PAME and the militant forces!
Dear comrades, the young workers have two roads ahead of them. On the one hand the road cultivated by the media, influencers, governments, employers and their servants in the labour movement. The road of apathy, inaction, individualism, the brutality of a system of wars, poverty, exploitation.
On the other hand is the difficult but beautiful road of collective struggle, solidarity, organised demand against the mainstream. Our road that resembles the little Palestinian with the slingshot against the Israeli tank. The opponent seems strong but is not invincible. We are the many, we produce the wealth, we have the power and we can overthrow them! We take strength from the great struggles of our time and declare that: the peoples have not said their last word yet!
We continue our struggle until the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. for the creation of a society in which the worker will own the wealth he produces! For the real peace of the peoples!
Viva the working class of France!
Viva proletarian internationalism!
FREE FREE PALESTINE!
