GREEK civil servants employed at Inland Revenue offices picketed a Finance Ministry building in Athens on Thursday morning against a government ‘multi-Bill’ which scraps altogether the state’s Department of Revenue and Income.
By order of the EC-IMF overlords of Greece, a new ‘Independent Public Revenue Authority’ is to be set up headed by a person vetoed by Brussels. The ‘multi-Bill’ legislates a 24% VAT on daily basic goods (bread, pasta etc) and households bills (telephone, electricity). New tax hikes to be imposed on petrol and drinks. Families or shop-owners that cannot pay their mortgages would have their properties snatched by so-called ‘venture’ international hedge funds who are to buy off ‘non-performing’ (non-paid) mortgages from the Greek banks.
The government’s ‘multi-Bill’ also includes a fiscal mechanism for introducing automatic cuts if Greece misses its annual budget primary surplus targets, set at an incredible high of 3.5%. The sell-offs would lead to more mass unemployment, already around 30% and 60% in the 15-24 age group, and deep widespread poverty.
The ‘independent authorities’ would be unelected bodies under the control of the EC-IMF overlords. The Greek government would have no right to intervene. Greece is to become an official colony of the EC-IMF lenders and bankers while state property is to be sold off, pensions literally annihilated, workers employed through ‘labour agencies’ or short cheap labour programmes without rights.
This is a most reactionary nightmare for workers, youth, small farmers and the middle class in Greece. It is the complete negation of all rights and living standards achieved through colossal class struggles in the 20th century despite world wars, dictatorships, civil war, mass executions and exile of tens of thousands of trade unionists and workers.
Yet the GSEE (Greek TUC) has not even called a protest against this ‘multi-Bill’! The Greek Communist Party, and other small left-wing parties, called for demonstrations next Sunday. It is obvious that much more than a demonstration is needed in this historic hour, no less than an indefinite general political strike to get rid of the Tsipras government, the EC-IMF and capitalism.
Hundreds of pensioners marched in central Athens against the ‘multi-Bill’ which cuts severely the pensions of the lowest grade and also asks these pensioners, numbering about 100,000, to return part of their pension received since last January.
