Greece: anger in the streets

We can’t stress this enough: while the media highlight Greece’s “solid” growth, the day-to-day reality is one of poverty-stricken wages, and the worst difficulties of coping with the high cost of living. In 2024, more than 50% of private-sector workers will earn a salary of 800 euros net max, while prices soar (transport: +18% from 2021 to 2024, “household basket” +36.46% from 2022 to 2024 / GSEE figures). Prime Minister Mitsotakis’s offer of a 33.78 euro increase was therefore seen as a provocation.

Massive strike

The strike was massively supported, including in the shops. And in the demonstrations, two main themes dominated: for a real increase in wages, with restoration of the 13th and 14th months abolished for the public sector and pensions under the memorandums (strong presence of pensioners), and (re)establishment of collective agreements (which cover only 24% of employees).

The demonstrations were large: in Athens, there were clearly two to three times as many people as during the general strikes of previous years, and the processions were often packed, less separated than usual. Radical grassroots unions were quite numerous, and in the same pole were student processions and teachers mobilized against disciplinary proceedings for strike action. Above all, it was here that the link with the now historic struggle for truth and justice over the 2023 Tèmbi rail tragedy (57 dead) was most strongly reaffirmed.

Justice for Tèmbi

At the beginning of this year, first the Committee of Victims’ Families and then the unions called giant rallies around an impressive general strike that shook the government to its foundations. However, instead of calling for an immediate extension, the union leaderships let several months pass, giving Mitsotakis the opportunity to prepare a “counter-offensive of truth”, by twisting the facts and using all his “Orbanian” propaganda apparatus. Mitsotakis has understood: the fight to prevent the investigations into Tèmbi from being hushed up has the power to unite all forms of social anger, if only because the causes of the accident involve turning rail transport back into a public service, under workers’ control. And the struggle could grow for the defence of all public services, and of course wages... So, without wasting any time, the time has come to mobilize... in the streets!

L’Anticapitaliste 16 April 2025