Dear comrades,

On behalf of the class trade unions of Greece, PAME we welcome the European Conference of the EUROF of the WFTU in France today. We thank the Val de Marne Regional Union and all the members of the WFTU in France who contributed to the hospitality and success of our conference today, which coincides with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the World Federation of Trade Unions here in Paris in 1945.

We express our solidarity and gratitude to the working class and the militant trade unions of France, who in recent years, with their great heroic struggles, have inspired millions of workers, especially young people, all over the world to take the path of struggle, to organise themselves in trade unions, to strike, to demand, to achieve victories!

The great struggles of recent years, in all the countries of Europe and throughout the world, have confirmed that the only force that mobilises, that pulls society forward, that produces wealth, is the working class.

We are proud to be among unions of militants who daily oppose and fight against the plans of the imperialists. We are filled with optimism by the unwavering, strong solidarity of the militant trade unions of Europe, of the workers of our countries, who together say FREE FREEPALESTINE!

Dear comrades,

The fragile ceasefire in Palestine cannot hide the intensification of imperialist competitions, the escalation of war preparations. It is now a fact that we are caught between a series of major war fronts with the direct and indirect participation and involvement of the European states, NATO and the EU. The EU and all European governments are turning to the “war economy” seeking to give an outlet to the over-accumulation of capital that has dominated for a decade. Overall the bourgeois parties regardless of colour or label are voting for anti-workers’ war budgets, with big cuts in health, education, social benefits.

We are facing a new capitalist crisis in Europe, in the face of which the workers must not accept new sacrifices but must intensify the struggles for our needs more decisively.

In the face of the growing indignation and anger of the peoples, employers, governments and the EU, at the same time with new measures of repression and authoritarianism, they are preparing new plans and mechanisms for the total submission of the workers and especially the youth in the preparations for war; they want to silence militant voices such as the comrades here from France, Jean Paul de Leco, Timothee Esprit, but also in Italy, the USB, and in Greece with daily persecutions against trade unionists.

In these conditions the forces of the ETUC and ITUC are used as a mechanism to support the plans not only of the employers, but of NATO and the imperialist mechanisms. The document of EUROF, gives detailed examples of their attitude in support of the US and the EU, even support for murderous Israel and HISTADRUT with a “solidarity” visit by the General Secretary of the ITUC. While the ETUC and the ITUC to date, in none of their documents have dared to mention the word genocide, or even Israel’s crime in Gaza.

They attempt to make the working-class support one imperialist camp against the other. On one side the US-EU-NATO, on the other the BRICS. We do not choose between the camps of the imperialists who are murdering the peoples. We must call on the workers of Europe to raise the flag of their class interests against their exploiters and their wars!

We do not forget the black picture of the ETUC Congress in Berlin giving a standing ovation to Ursula von Der Leyen. The militant trade unionists do not applaud the exploiters, the capitalists and the imperialist apparatus. We here today salute the people of Palestine, of Cuba, the trade unions who are fighting for peace and prosperity of the peoples.

An important issue to be highlighted is the attempt by the ETUC in the European elections this summer to turn the trade unions into an electoral mechanism for the social democrats, the so-called “progressive” forces.

This is despite the long experience of what the support of various forces of the bourgeoisie, “left”, “progressive”, or whatever name or label they have, has led the working class to.

In Greece, the government of the supposedly leftist Tsipras imposed brutal anti-worker reforms.

In France, the way was paved for Le Pen by Macron, who brought in the pension reform, which was paved for by Holland, who brought in the El Komri law.

In the USA, the way was opened to Trump by Biden, who financed genocide in Palestine, banned workers’ struggles.

Fear of the far right is invoked by the forces that support the system that breeds the far right and fascism. The same forces that promote anti-workers’ measures and today close hospitals and schools to finance military armaments.

We must expose the damaging role of such concepts and the forces that cultivate them. We must strengthen our trade unions, their action for the working class and its rights. Rights that we will defend by organising in the workplaces, by action, by struggles, by class struggle, not by social dialogue and class cooperation.

That is why, comrades, today, in our conference, apart from analysing the conditions and developments, we must take account and discuss the steps we have taken, the obstacles and difficulties we have faced, even our mistakes and weaknesses, and on the basis of these, decide on our plan of action.

Above all, we consider the following to be the most important point to keep in mind. Despite the negative correlation, the forces of the WFTU, the EUROF itself, facing many difficulties and obstacles stood on the right side of history, with the peoples, with the struggles of the workers. It stood up against the plans of the capitalists. We achieved victories. Guided by the decisions of the WFTU Congress in Rome, we were better prepared for the developments.

On the basic question with the peoples, with the working class or with the monopolies and the bosses, we were, are and will be firmly on the side of the peoples.

Important struggles were developed in many countries of Europe. We believe that the EUROF, the comrades from the USB who have the central responsibility in the last years have made a great effort in difficult conditions, with little means, they have managed to express solidarity. With many difficulties we managed today, after a very long time, to hold a European conference of the WFTU, giving the opportunity to meet and plan our action. That is why we consider positive the contribution of all the comrades of the European Office.

At the same time, we thank all the trade unions from Europe that stood by the side of the workers of Greece in great struggles. To the dockers of COSKO, to the delivery workers of EFOOD, to the construction workers, miners, etc. who achieved contracts with big wage increases or important conquests such as exemption from outsourcing contractors. Thanks to this action big trade unions, workers’ Regional Unions and federations changed leaderships and were taken over by militant trade unionists of PAME. As in November in the largest Federation of the Private Sector in Greece, but also in the Piraeus Regional, in the largest port of the country, PAME won an absolute majority.

But this does not mean that we are satisfied, especially in the face of the new conditions and the escalation of the anti-worker attack and the imperialist war. The WFTU, the Eur. Office, the militant trade unions today need to achieve a qualitative step in our action.

First and foremost, with better information, exchange of information, the presence of the WFTU in every country in Europe. Today we need to strengthen the intervention of the WFTU in Europe with physical presence, strengthening our contacts and joint actions. There can be no workers’ struggle, big or small, without our direct, support with our presence. With collective discussion and decisions, to strengthen the action plan of the WFTU with initiatives.

Today we can more decisively organize the struggle against the war budgets, demanding an increase in spending on popular social services, and demanding a more efficient and effective use of resources.

Today we can more decisively organise the struggle against war budgets, demanding an increase in spending on popular social needs. To strengthen our ideological-political and organizational intervention in all countries with a front against employers, governments, EU, ETUC.

With a militant, militant response and unity of the working class to every phenomenon of racism, nationalism, with a firm front against every fascist formation. With an organised response to the plans to impose “social peace” especially now because of war or war preparedness we respond

NOW MONEY FOR WAGES, HEALTH AND EDUCATION

NOT FOR THE IMPERIALIST WARS!

To help develop workers’ struggles and demands for wages, labour relations, working hours, working time, confronting in practice the plans to intensify exploitation and any attempt to buy off sections of workers.

By militantly confronting every attempt to intensify repression and authoritarianism, to restrict trade union and political action.

The peoples of Europe are once again at a crossroads. On the one hand, the road of compromise, the sacrifices of the “social dialogues”, of poverty and misery for the profits of the monopolies, of “class peace” for the wars of the imperialists. And on the other hand, the road of struggle, of the difficulties of the class struggle for the life and rights of the workers, the road of conflict and the struggle for peace of the peoples.

With faith in the strength of the working class, with optimism from our victories, with experience from our defeats, today we are stronger, more ready, more able to achieve new successes, to take new steps! Steadfastly on the road to the overthrow of capitalist barbarism, to the abolition of the exploitation of man by man!

Long live the International working class!

Long live the WFTU!