On Thursday, December 11, two strikes were organised in two of the largest telecommunications companies in Greece, at FORTHNET, which is an internet provider and WIND, which is both an internet and mobile provider, both numbering hundreds of workers. The strike was called by the local trade unions, as well as the Telecommunications and IT Workers’ Trade Union (SETIP)of Athens.

The strike took place under the demands to sign collective agreements, for better working conditions especially within the call centers and to stop outsourcing.

The participation in the strikes was massive in both companies. Especially in FORTHNET, were in spite of the heavy rain the workers gathered and decided to go immediately on General Assembly to organise the escalation of the struggle. On the other hand, in WIND the company tried to respond to the strike with “lock-out”, which was immediately condemned by the trade unions.

In order to support the strikes, the SETIP organised picket lines at the 2 companies and also held a massive campaign the same day, in all the companies of the sector so as to inform about the strike and the demands of the strikers, creating solidarity with their struggle and also to push forward with the coordination and common action of workers of different companies in the same sector. SETIP in its press release states that:

“We will go forward with coordinating the struggle from different companies against the coordinated attack of the employers whose common goal is to abolish workers’ rights. Our goal is to sign Collective Contract that will apply to all workers in the branch of telecommunications and IT”