IN THE port of Piraeus, the ADEDY (public sector federation of trades unions) and the Piraeus Trades Council have called an anti-war 24-hour strike for today, Friday, February 6th, with rallies in Piraeus and at the nearby Elefsina port and industrial centre.
The strike is part of strike action at Mediterranean ports (Basque Country, Morocco, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey) under the heading: ‘Dockers don’t work for war – International Day of Struggle’.
The other slogans on the international poster are for social security, protection measures at work, increases in wages and pensions, against privatisation and militarism.
The strike has been initiated by members of the World Federation of Trade Unions which has issued a statement of support calling for ‘an immediate end to the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel, with the open support of Israel’s allies, the USA, NATO, and the EU.’
The declaration of the Piraeus Trades Council states: ‘The workers of Piraeus are striking on February 6th because we cannot tolerate our lives being wasted for profits and wars.
‘Measures at work to protect our lives constitute a cost for employers which reduces their profits, and that’s why no measures are taken.
‘The result is that we do not know if we will return safely to our families from the daily wage of terror.’
The ADEDY EU press release last week stated: ‘We call on the workers of the Piraeus region to unite their voices in struggle, participating in the 24-hour strike on February 6th, a day of joint action by port workers in Greece, Italy, Turkey, France, the Basque Country, and Morocco against the exploitation of ports for imperialist plans, wars, and interventions.
‘We are against the ever-increasing antagonisms between the US and their allies and China-Russia for control of wealth-producing sources, energy transport routes, goods, and raw materials.’
Absent from these calls and announcements are Israel’s war in Palestine and the genocide in Gaza, the EU-NATO war in Ukraine, and to Greece’s participation – through NATO – in these wars, while the Mitsotakis’ government signed a military agreement with Israel.
The leaders of the ADEDY and of the Piraeus Trades Council are supporters of the KKE (Greek Communist Party) who are totally opposed to any calls for a general strike to overthrow the Mitsotakis government.
In opposition to the ADEDY – Piraeus Trades Council’s declarations, the PENEN trades union (national union of seafarers) have declared today as a 24-hour strike on all categories of ships in Piraeus.
PENEN’s strike is supported by the Solidarity Initiative for the Palestinian People of Labour Unions and Collectives (formed by some left wing trade unions) who are planning their own strike meeting in the port of Piraeus.
The PENEN declaration states: ‘Our strike is taking place at a time when imperialist military conflicts are intensifying across the planet, with the US and its allies as the protagonists, who claim hegemony in the world through military and economic power, enslaving countries and peoples, seeking to consume wealth producing resources, control sea routes, and strengthen their geopolitical and strategic influence.
‘In this confrontation, the Greek government is siding with the adventurous plans of the US and NATO, putting our people at risk.
‘We see Trump’s plans for global domination and hegemony every day on live broadcast, such as the gangster intervention and kidnapping of Maduro in Venezuela, the threats against Iran, Greenland, Cuba and many other countries.
‘It is also the genocidal war that the terrorist state, Israel, has been waging for over two years against the Palestinian people, with the backing of the West and governments, and of course with the expanded support and strategic alliance of the Greek government.
‘In these circumstances, only the intervention of the peoples can prevent a mass massacre and a new destructive generalised war.’
It should be noted that PENEN also does not call for a General Political Strike to overthrow the Mitsotakis government to be replaced by a workers’ government, which would nationalise banks and large businesses, and withdraw from the EU and NATO.
- With a nationwide strike last Tuesday, and strike rallies in the cities of central and northern Greece as well as at the Ministry for Labour in Athens, the National Federation of Dairy Food and Beverage Workers have called for a full investigation into the ‘employer’s crime’ at the Violanta biscuit factory in Trikala, central Greece, where five women workers died last week in a huge explosion.
At the rally outside the Ministry for Labour building, Vasilis Stamoulis, President of the Federation and supporter of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), stressed that the strike has been mass and widespread, with an increased number of female workers’ participation.
Stamoulis said that the crime ‘must not go unpunished’ and demanded proper measures to protect workers’ lives at work.
After a meeting of a Federation delegation with officials of the Ministry of Labour, Stamoulis stressed that ‘we raised the issues to hold those responsible for the crime accountable’, but ‘the government insists on the same path that leads to dead and maimed workers’.
Stamoulis’ trust in the hated right wing government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis goes hand in glove with his refusal to call out the whole of the working class in a general strike to overthrow the government.
Stamoulis has also rejected the demand for an independent investigation into the five workers’ death by the trade union movement.
- Critics say Athens appears to be embracing Israel’s ‘defence model’ after announcing the largest purchase of its weapons.
Greece is interested in jointly developing weapons with Israel, Greek officials have warned.
‘We’re an excellent customer of Israeli systems,’ Angelos Syrigos, chairman of the Greek parliament’s Defence Affairs Committee, said.
He said: ‘The leap in our defence relationship will happen when there’s co-production of defence systems and common planning.’
The relationship is strengthening as Israel stands accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
On December 4th, Greece’s Defence Affairs Committee approved the purchase of 36 PULS rocket artillery systems at a cost of $760m, the largest Greek acquisition of Israeli weapons to date.
The medium range air defence system is to form part of Greece’s Shield of Achilles, a 2.8-billion-euro ($3.3bn) layered air defence umbrella announced last year.
Syrigos said that if co-production were on the table, the remainder of that budget could be devoted to Israeli systems.
Greece is nominally a member of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) formed by Germany in 2022 as a vehicle to sell mostly German air defence systems such as Iris-T and Skyranger.
However, Greece is not known to have entered into talks to buy those systems.
In contrast, Greece’s Ministry of National Defence last month formed negotiating committees to buy three additional missile defence systems, Spyder, Barak and David’s Sling, produced by the Israel-owned Rafael and Israeli Aerospace Industries, worth a potential 3.1 billion euros ($3.5bn).
The three systems, comprising short, medium and long-range air defence against airborne threats including ballistic missiles, would complete the Shield of Achilles.
Greece and Israel are discussing a government-to-government deal that bypasses a competitive bid process.
‘Otherwise, everyone would come in and tender an offer, which Greece wants to avoid,’ Kathimerini newspaper’s foreign and defence affairs reporter Vassilis Nedos said.
He explained why Greece prefers to award the contracts directly to Israel: ‘Israel has no problem giving you a qualitative edge.
‘With other suppliers, you have to negotiate it,’ Nedos reported.
The procurement advisory committees, made up of officers from all four branches of the armed forces, are also discussing a ‘360 approach’ involving unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles with their Israeli counterparts, said Nedos.
‘We’ve also discussed ballistic missiles with other countries,’ Syrigos said, without specifying which ones.
