According to a Pan-Hellenic survey of INKA (Consumers Institute), over 73% of Greeks can’t afford to go on holiday this summer, not even for a single day.  The few who are going to travel will be hosted in their friends’ houses or relatives’ country houses.

This survey would be shocking news if it didn’t confirm a status getting worse and worse year after year. It was that bad even in the years of capitalistic development. Back then, workers and the economically weak, not only couldn’t take some days off for vacation but also they had to confront the anti labor policy of each government. At that time it was that the Ministry of Tourism was promoting the -so called- quality tourism, of course only for the privileged who could afford to pay the over-priced “product” the business groups in tourism offered.

At that time it was that we had noted as a Trade Union that the wage of an employee was even smaller compared to a- one night- accommodation in a five star hotel or a 4-person dinner in a chic restaurant!

We all remember the fake tears by the loyal servants of business groups, the mass media, on the inability of Greek people to pay for recreation (pleasure). They are hypocrites and pretentious. They are complaining that hotels are empty of Greek tourists and in the same time they are celebrating that 17 million tourists are going to visit Greece ensuring 11 billion Euros profits for the capitalists. The media continue the governmental propaganda that Greek economy will grow on the base of tourism when the dismissals (especially on summer time) are becoming more and more. The truth is that the capitalists are shutting down the factories and companies in order to transfer their business activities everywhere in the world, anywhere that they can make the highest profit. The “tourist villages” and “all inclusive” offers are multiplying, closing small tourism businesses.

Furthermore, there is no need for research in order to understand the cruel reality. Just a visit in any big hotel can prove the difference between the rich customers and the employees. Thousand dismissals of public servants and other workers, young employees working without insurance as students for 300 Euros monthly, reveals who is making profit from the development in tourism. They are the same they accuse workers’ demonstrations as if they are responsible of harming tourism.

The Spanish business group who owns HYDRA BEACH is a typical case revealing the truth. The employers fired 20 local employees in order to replace them with students.

Nowadays, the anti labor measures are in progress and will escalate and the majority of workers and self-employed, young people, women should understand that as long as business groups own everything we will never be able to fulfill our contemporaty needs. And by that, we mean holidays, pleasure, and tourism.

We don’t care about their fake tears and we will keep on fighting. Our aim is every worker in tourism to join the trade union and to claim our fair rights. We know that the media spend their time to promote the cruelest, anti labor policy, they support workers suppression, and they show off false role models. They support the most corrupted system in the history of humanity, capitalism.