The working people demanded: Take back the law-guillotine

By KKE



The largest strike mobilization of recent years was held on 4/2/2016. Thousands
of people, workers, farmers, self-employed, students and school-students, filled
the streets of all the country's major cities, with as their central demand the
withdrawal of the SYRIZA-ANEL government's draft law for the social security
system.

This law has been characterized as a "law-guillotine", as it reduces pensions,
increases the social security contributions of the workers, reduces state
spending on the public system of health and welfare and increases the retirement
age.

The strike demonstrations of the All-workers' Militant Front (PAME), together
with the forces of the social people's alliance, were the most mass in character
all over the country. The other components of this alliance are: the
"All-farmers Militant Rally" (PASY), the "Nationwide Anti-monopoly Rally"
(PASEVE), the forces of the Students' Struggle Front (MAS), the Federation of
Greek Women (OGE).The farmers with their tractors took part in the workers'
strike mobilizations in many Greek cities, symbolizing the common struggle of
the working class with the poor and medium farmers.

Thousands of workers all over the country fought to defend the strike early in
the morning, outside the factories, the shops, the services, ports etc., against
the strike-breaking apparatus of the employers. Production and services came to
a standstill across the entire country.

PAME's demonstration in Athens was enormous. It passed in front of the
Parliament. When the head of the march reached the Columns of Olympian Zeus, its
tail was still in Omonia sq, filling all the central roads for a distance of
over 3 kilometres. It was a mass popular mobilization, which according to all
the estimates was at least 4 times the size of the other demonstration organized
by the compromised leaderships of the GSEE and ADEDY federation together with
social-democratic and ultra-left groups, and groups of so-called
"anti-authoritarians", who at the end engaged in some small-scale incidents with
the police.

The speaker at the central rally of PAME was G. Perros, member of the Executive
Secretariat of PAME, who attacked the plans of the SYRIZA-ANEL government, the
EU and big capital, stressing that:"The big businesses will not give up on
pursuing their interests! They have immediate and vital interests in dismantling
Social Security. The measures mean new wealth and the increase of profitability
for them. For us, however, they mean even greater misery, poverty, a life
without rights, minimal health and welfare cover!

We have the power to stop them! We have the power to escalate our struggle, so
that they come face to face with impregnable wall created by the people and a
solid front of struggle that will not be stemmed.”

Christos Pasoulas, a member of the National Secretariat of PASY and Valentin
Pacho, Deputy General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
also addressed the rally.





Statement of the GS of the CC of the KKE

The GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, attended PAME's strike rally
in Athens and made the following statement:

"The great success of the general strike, the large demonstrations in all the
country's cities, the militant roadblocks of the farmers, the participation of
hundreds of thousands of self-employed, professionals-scientists, youth and
women from the popular families send a message: This situation cannot continue.

The monstrous draft law that destroys the social-security system must be
withdrawn immediately. The anti-worker and anti-people laws must be abolished.
We escalate and continue the struggle until the final victory. With working
class unity, with the workers in the frontline, with the social people's
alliance of all the workers in every sector. With an orientation against the
monopolies that exploit us, against the capitalist system that drags down the
lives of the working people even further. We must take matters into our own
hands."



Statement of PAME

In its statement after the strike, PAME calls for more militant, more dynamic
struggles, with more advanced forms, for an increase in the number of
mobilizations, with general meetings in the workplaces, with work stoppages,
sectoral strikes. There must be struggles in every sector, every union must take
the decision for a new even bigger and mass strike so that they will not dare to
bring the draft law to Parliament to be voted on.

As the Statement stresses:

"Today’s strike was special. It clearly demonstrated that without the working
people nothing works. No factories, no farms, no shops, no ports, trains, no
forms of transport. When the working people stop production, the country comes
to a standstill!

The great success of today’s strike, the massive strike rallies in every city,
the militant roadblocks of the poor farmers all over Greece, the streets that
flooded with people, reveal the potential that exists today to block the new
crime of the Government against Social Security, to move forward with new
demands.

Today’s strike revealed the great weapon of the people: the alliance of workers,
self-employed, poor farmers, women, and youth. The success of today’s general
strike shows the strength of the popular alliance, how important and valuable
its formation and strengthening are, with demands and slogans that strike at the
heart of those who enrich themselves at our expense today, our exploiters, the
monopolies, the big employers, the EU and their governments.[..]

The working class and popular strata can live as they deserve. For this reason
we must not retreat an inch from the slogan "the law-guillotine must not pass",
from the demand that this monstrous draft law that dismantles and buries social
security must be withdrawn.

PAME calls for more militant, more powerful struggles, with more advanced forms!
We can stop this crime!

Every day they must feel our presence, in every workplace, branch, school,
university, apprenticeship, neighborhood, everywhere!

This is not the End! This is the beginning!”

In
KKE
http://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/The-working-people-demanded-Take-back-the-law-guillotine/
February 2, 2016