HUNDREDS of thousands of workers and youth took part in mass rallies and marches in all Greek cities and towns on Thursday as part of the one-day general strike called by the GSEE (Greek TUC) and ADEDY (public sector trade unions) against the government’s Budget.
The GSEE estimated that over one million participated in the strike.
The strike proved to be solid in ports, ferries (not a single ferry sailed), railways, urban transport, building sites and shipyards.
Last Wednesday, journalists, printers and media technicians staged a one-day national strike and not a single newspaper was printed and no news programmes were broadcast.
The participation in the strike of teachers, civil servants and public sector workers, engineers, and women garment workers was very high.
But there was minimal support from other heavy industry, bank, telecommunications and department store workers.
The GSEE once again refused to launch a strike campaign in those sectors, where corrupt trade union leaders have made peace with management despite the fact that workers are being put on 4-day weeks and their wages slashed.
In Athens, over 40,000 workers took part in the three successive but separate rallies and marches called by the GSEE-ADEDY, the Greek Communist Party and of trade unions which have broken from the GSEE leadership.
The GSEE-ADEDY march attracted just 2,000, made up of meagre contingents from transport, water authority, post office, ports and shipyards workers.
Over 15,000 participated in the Greek Communist Party march headed by the 400 steel workers now in the fifth week of their strike.
Some 25,000 workers, mainly teachers, local government workers, hospital and transport workers, civil servants and service workers, took part in the march organised by trade unions opposed to the GSEE leadership.
The leaders of the powerful energy and electricians’ union of the Greek State Electricity Board and of the Rail Workers Union refused to participate in the marches.
