PAME expresses its solidarity with USB and commerce workers in Italy, who through two-hour work stoppages on December 24th and 31st, fight for the self-evident right to have time for their lives and their families, especially during holidays.

In Greece, commerce workers face exhausting working conditions: constant shift changes, work on Sundays and holidays, with no stable working time, while the so-called “flexibility” dismantles any possibility of personal and family planning. All this goes hand in hand with stagnant wages that do not even cover basic needs, at a time when soaring prices are crushing the income of working-class households and the profits of major retail chains have skyrocketed to record levels.

In the face of this situation, workers are not standing idly by. Sectoral and enterprise-level unions in commence, together with the Federation of Private Sector Employees of Greece, organize the struggle and demand a Collective Bargaining Agreement with wage increases, a 7-hour workday – 5-day workweek – 35-hour workweek, stable worktime, and the protection of Sunday as a day off. These demands respond to workers’ real needs and come into direct conflict with the intensification of exploitation imposed by the monopolies in commerce.

The struggle for humane working hours, decent wages, and the right to free time is a common struggle for workers in all countries. It is a struggle against policies that increase worktime on the altar of profit and corporate competitiveness, making use of EU directives for 13-hour work days and “flexibility” within the framework of the war economy and preparations for the wars of the EU – NATO – USA.

We state clearly: free time is not a luxury nor a concession, it is a right. The tremendous achievements of science and technology, the increase in labour productivity, and the modern breakthroughs in the organization of production, make it possible to reduce working time while simultaneously increasing wages, to the benefit of workers.

We salute the strike mobilizations of USB in commerce. We strengthen class and internationalist solidarity. Through organization in our trade unions and collective action, we can impose what is rightfully ours, so that what is produced by our labor returns to us and is not turned into immense profits for the few.