THOUSANDS of determined drama and arts schools’ students along with primary and secondary teachers marched through the Athens city centre last Wednesday in a most militant demonstration against the vicious attack on their rights by the right-wing Greek government of Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis.
Over 2,000 drama and arts students along with large contingents from the actors, dance, musicians and TV-cinema trades unions staged an angry march chanting, ‘Occupations against the world of rotten capitalism’, ‘Thousands of occupations – next will be parliament’, and ‘Resign! – this will not pass!’
Drama and arts students have occupied all state drama schools, fine arts university departments and state theatres, including the National Theatre in Athens.
They are demanding the repeal of a government Presidential Decree which does not recognise the drama and performing arts diplomas as higher education diplomas.
Students and artists are also demanding setting up drama departments in universities.
This means that drama and performing arts graduates would not have recognised professional standing and would not be eligible to apply for teaching posts in schools or other institutions.
It also means that they would be classified as ‘unskilled’ labour with low wages offered for theatre and tv-cinema work.
Following the march, a meeting of artists’ and students’ representatives with Mitsotakis was held. Mitsotakis subjected them to a lecture of his good intentions for over an hour.
He concluded by stating that he won’t repeal the Presidential Decree and asked them to support him in his efforts to change the Greek Constitution to allow the function of private universities where drama and arts courses would be offered!
As an immediate answer to Mitsotakis, the Federation of Theatrical Trades Unions (actors, musicians, TV-cinema technicians) called another 24-hour strike and a march this Friday at the Greek High Court where they will be applying for the annulment of the Presidential Decree.
Students are continuing the occupations and are holding concerts every evening in the streets outside the occupied state theatres.
After the students, primary and secondary school teachers held their own mass march of more than 6,000, one of the biggest of recent years.
Teachers have rejected the terms of a government ‘evaluation’ of each teacher accusing the Education Minister N. Kerameos of imposing anti-scientific methods imbued with ideological guidelines with a clear aim of disqualifying teachers with temporary contracts from taking up permanent posts as well as mass sackings of teachers deemed ‘inadequate’.
Later in the day, hundreds of archaeologists and state museums workers staged an angry rally outside the National Archaeological Museum, booing the visiting Mitsotakis.
Armed riot police were placed in front of the museum.
The Association of Greek Archaeologists had called a three-day strike, Monday to Wednesday of this week, against the government’s decision to place the top five archaeological museums under the management of people selected by the Culture Minister with the aim of making them ‘self financed’.
In the evening, radio station ‘phone-in’ programmes were saturated by callers who had demonstrated earlier, who expressed their rage against the leaders of the GSEE (Greek TUC) and of the ADEDY (Public Workers’ Trade Unions Federation) who are refusing to call a General Strike, ‘uniting all these struggles’ as one caller put it to the 105.5 FM radio station.
