Major Greek unions strike to protest privatization
By Tim Tower
17 May 2008
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The two largest unions in Greece organized strikes on Thursday, May
15, of workers in telecommunications, banking and trans****tation. The
national actions were called to protest government plans to
effectively privatize OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization, along with large ****tions of ****pping operations at two
major ****ts. GSEE, the country=92s largest labor union, called 24-hour
strikes at OTE and at ****pping operations in Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
In the center of downtown Athens, workers staged a march from the
Omonia Plaza Metro station to Sindagma Square opposite the national
parliament building in the city center.
Police fired tear gas to prevent strikers from entering the
headquarters of the National Bank of Greece. There were no re****ted
injuries or arrests.
On the same day, 2,000 students staged a separate demonstration and
launched sit-ins at 10 universities.
Olympic Airlines, the government carrier, was compelled to cancel 40
flights to and from Athens, and to reschedule an additional 16
international and domestic flights because of work stoppages by pilots
and air traffic controllers. Aegean Airlines cancelled an additional
28 flights.
Deutsche Telekom (DT) has purchased 25 percent of OTE in a deal that
gives the German concern managing control of the Greek phone service
and threatens complete privatization. Protests from opposition parties
in parliament, coupled with actions by the unions, escalated on May 14
when Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis announced that DT would
purchase a 19.56 percent share of the company from the private
investment firm Martin Investment Group. The government facilitated
the deal by selling DT an additional 3 percent for =8029.75 per share.
The transaction reduces government holdings from 28 percent to 25
percent. By purchasing an additional 2 percent of the company on the
open market DT will obtain a parity stake immediately, with the
government and the company each holding 25 percent. In response to the
news, OTE stock fell 8 percent the next day to close at =8018.82 per
share on fears that the move would provoke the unions.
The conservative New Democracy government is simultaneously moving to
sell the rights to manage container terminals at the ****ts of Piraeus
and Thessaloniki. Giant firms Cosco and Hutchinson from China and
Dubai World ****ts from the United Arab Emirates are competing for the
contract, which would secure control of the container operations at
the two ****ts for 30 years.
Banners on Thursday=92s march called for the restoration of the
telecommunications industry to 100 percent public owner****p. Perrakis
Alexandros, president of the Telecommunications Workers Union for the
Athens area, told the WSWS, =93We are on strike because we are opposing
privatization.=94 The privatization would hurt the general public
because the cost of communications services would increase and the
quality of service would decline. =93It is not only a problem in Greece,
or the European Union,=94 he said, =93that workers=92 wages and rights are
being cut down. It is the same problem all over the world. This is due
to the system that we live in, capitalism. To make more profit, the
capitalists cut wages and workers=92 rights.=94
Yannis and Angelos, who held one of the banners, said the actions were
organized against the threat to jobs and working conditions posed by
privatization. =93The only way, finally, to secure jobs and working
conditions,=94 Yannis said, =93is that the public has to defeat
capitalism.=94 Turning to world politics, he said, =93Iraq is an
imperialist war, only for oil and to open markets in Asia to American
industries. Everyone sees that.=94
The strikers have been following the US election campaign and
commented that Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
did not represent an alternative to the policies of the Bush
administration. =93The only chance for real change is to build a
separate party of the working class,=94 said Yannis. =93I would tell the
workers in America that the problem is not just with Bush. After him,
Clinton or Obama will be the same. It is the system of capitalism
which must be changed.=94
The Athens News re****ted that a vote against the Telekom deal in
parliament could bring down the government and precipitate a general
election. The paper also re****ted that although Alogoskoufis denied
re****ts that the government was moving to liquidate all of its
holdings in OTE, many observers believed that to be the case.
The state will receive =80442.3 million and Martin Investment Group will
get =802.55 billion. As soon as the transaction goes into effect, the
structure of the company board of directors will ****ft to give five of
its ten members to DT and five to the Greek state.
Despite holding a mere one seat majority in parliament, the government
is pu****ng ahead with plans for aggressive privatizations and massive
cuts in government pension plans.
In response, the unions have staged a number of protests. ADEDY, the
civil servants=92 union, called a three-hour strike on May 14 at the
state-run electric utility, PPC, and other public utilities to oppose
plans for privatization and cuts in pensions and to demand a salary
increase from =80658 to =801,300.
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