On Sunday, June 10, PAME delegation visited again the areas of Nea Manolada in Ilia, southwestern Greece, where thousands of migrant land workers work and live under the wretched and unacceptable conditions in the fields.
The delegation of PAME, was headed by Vasili Stamoulis, chairman of the Federation of Workers in Textile and Clothing Industries and a member of the Executive Secretariat of PAME.
The visit took place after a recent catastrophic fire that occurred in a camp of immigrant land workers, mainly from Bangladesh, which highlighted the criminal exploitation and the miserable and unacceptable conditions of their residence. The delegation, in talked with dozens of migrant land workers, and once again witnessed the miserable conditions under which they work and live.
The workers complained to the delegation about unacceptable working conditions, such as work for 7 consecutive hours without a break – not even for a glass of water – while working in greenhouses, where extremely high temperatures develop, in suffocating conditions , especially if you consider that they are confronted with dangerous pesticides.
At the same time, as the workers revealed, the same miserable situation is prevalent in terms of paying their wages, since even original agreements are not being met. There were also reports of extortionist tactics on the part of employers or slave traders with the papers of migrant workers, which are held illegally by the employer, so as to blackmail the workers not to react to the greater exploitation.
During the visit, the members of PAME delegation distributed a Bangladesh-language announcement to immigrant land workers to learn the positions and demands of the class trade union movement.
Speaking to the migrants PAME reaffirmed its steady solidarity with the immigrant land workers and that PAME is alongside them, inviting them to organize themselves to fight for the right to decent work with normal Insurance and rights. As noted, Greek and immigrant workers have nothing to divide and should unite to fight against the united attack they suffer from the capital and its policies.
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