Greek workers, youth and students in their thousands demonstrated in every city on May Day celebrating historic past struggles and showing their determination to fight against the current right-wing Karamanlis government, as the economic collapse is creating havoc and an unprecedented political crisis.
Last week the Greek Finance Ministry announced that up to the end of last month it had borrowed from the international bankers some 50bn euros on much higher interest rates than other European countries.
In last December’s Budget the government had set a figure of 40bn euros to be borrowed to the end of 2009. In the Vouli (Greek parliament) the government was facing defeat last night on a crucial vote on corruption of an ex-minister.
Greek workers celebrated May Day with a 24-hour national strike despite the fact that it has been declared a national holiday.
The strike was solid in the public sector, telecommunications and transport – where only so-called ‘essential’ services functioned. Newspapers were not printed.
But the lack of working class leadership determined to fight the government was reflected in the no less than five separate marches which took place in Athens.
The Revolutionary Marxist League, Greek supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International, intervened in these marches calling for the building of a revolutionary party to lead the Greek working masses to power and for the establishment of a workers’ and small farmers’ government elected by Councils of Action.
