Papandreou's austerity
GREECE
Q. Did this mobilization take the working-class leaderships by surprise?
A. Yes and no. There had already been a series of struggles at the start of 1985 in response to the effects of the economic crisis. But they had ebbed in the period preceding the sparks a massive upsurge
June elections, which again gave the PASOK a majority in the parliament. (1)
Immediately after the elections, prices started going up every week. A social explosion then became predictable, although there was not
THE PAPANDREOU government's adoption of a series of austerity measures in mid-October, in particular its decision to freeze wages for the next two years and to restrict the operation of automatic cost-of-living allowances, touched off a series of working-class mobilizations. These actions culminated in the general strike of November
14, which was doubtless one of the major working-class and popular mobilizations since the fall of the dictatorship of the colonels in
1974.
This mass opposition to the policy of the government of the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) has opened up cleavages within the ruling party itself, in particular among its trade-union activists and officials.
Sofronis Papadopoulos, a member of the leadership of the Internationalist Communist Organization, the Greek section of the
Fourth International, gave the following interview on these developments to Jacqueline Allio in Athens on November 30.
the November 14 general strike and the massive support for it?
Answer. The government's latest measures were the last straw. The two- year wage freeze and the attack on cost-of-living increases were a kick in the stomach to the working class.
While the rate of inflation went
20% in 1985, cost-of-living increases will not be given for the months of that year, which meais a real wage cut of about 10%.
Moreover, despite the authorities' claims that this measure was not a first step toward outright abolition of scale of wages, the cost- of-living increase will be fixed beforefor the next four months, without any possibility for adjustment if the real rate of inflation exceeds the projections. What is more, the rise in the prices of imported commodities will not be taken into account in making these estimates.
In order to assure that its decision will be strictly respected, the government adopted a decree forbidding bosses to give wage increases, under penalty of draconian fines going as far as 5% of the company's income.
Now, the sliding scale of wages is an important gain for the workers, which the PASOK was forced to concede in the heady atmosphere of its electoral victory in 1981.
International Viewpoint 13 January 1986
This is why the working have reacted so sharply to this government attack. This was in fact the most important decision made in the series of measures that were adopted in the framework of the government's austerity policy, but, of course, it was not the only important one.
The Papandreou government has decided to make major cutbacks in social spending. It is trying to reach into the pockets of the middle strata by drastically increasing taxes on the self-employed, as well as by stepping up its fight against tax fraud. latter policy is aimed in particular against the very small merchants and artisans who represent an essential part of the parallel circuits of the Greek economy. The application of this decision will be a very harsh blow for the poorest strata.
Wage earners, in fact, make up only 45% of the economically active population, and the incomes of the poorest families depend in large part on the parallel trading economy. On top of this, there is the devaluation of the drachma, the Greek currency, that was decreed in October. Officially, it was devalued by the 15%, but in fact its value was cut by 18%. This measure also hits the least well-off the hardest. Overall, you could say that these measures have brought on a 10% decline in real incomes. Tomo yet a general mobilization. In response to the rumors that started going around about the austerity measures that the government intended to take, a series of struggles started up in the private sector over the questions of prices and unemployment. the pro-Moscow Communist Party, which is called the CP-Exterior; and supported by the Eurocommunist CP, known as the CP-Interior.
In the public sector enterprises dominated by the PASOK, such as the banks, the postal service, telecommunications, electricity, urban transport, and the railroads, mobilizations developed in protest against the government's failure to implement the socialization measures it promised.
Of the entire program announced by the PASOK, in fact, the only thing that was put into practice was that "Enterprise Committees" were set up. These are co-management structures in which workers sit alongside managers and representatives of the administration. These bodies are designed to promote a trend of class collaboration, and the workers are saying clearly that they want none of them.
However, these struggles were dispersed. Nonetheless, as soon as the government's austerity measures were announced, on October 11, the response was massive. It involved the main unions organized in the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), with the exception of teachers and government employees (who belong to the confederation of Public Employees, which has about 300,000 members).
Q. Who led this mobilization?
A. The backbone of the struggle were the unions that had mobilized before, that is, those controlled by the pro-Moscow CP, some politically independent or semi-independent unions, and the public sector unions dominated by the PASOK that had responded to the government's failure to keep its promises about socialization. This group was joined by the
1. See "Papandreou won, but what was his game?" in "International Viewpoint", No 78, June 17, 1985, IV.
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Greek section of the Fourth International Coordinating Committee of Unions in Private Factories, controlled by the PASOK, which includes the unions at about 150 big factories.
The Confederation of Public Employees also decided to protest against the government's measures. proposed to initiatives that were to culminate in a general strike of teachers and government employees on November 28.
All of this shows the breadth of the movement at the rank-and-file level. This pressure was so great that 26 of the 45 leaders in the Executive Commission of the GSEE formed a bloc against the goverment's measures and called for a general strike. They put the wing of the PASOK favorable to the austerity policy in a minority, which included the president and treasurer of the SEE, who were removed from office.
Of these 26 trade-union leaders, seven were also leaders of the PASOK in the main public sector enterprises, and three were members of the Central Committee of the PASOK. As soon as it came out that they were taking their distance from the Papandreou government's decrees, they were expel-
After that, how was the demonstration organized?
Actually, the process was often complex. In general, the Bloc of the 26 controlled the local labor exchanges, which coordinate all the unions, while the PASOK sometimes kept of the unions in the enterprises, especially the small workplaces.
But, in any case, the three Piraieus, representing three quarters of the organized working class - fell in behind the initiatives of
So, the PASOK did everything to sabotage the functioning of the trade-union bodies in agreement with the to resign from the union leadership bodies and trying to put a damper on the decisions that were taken, ete.
This did not keep the mobilization from building up, even if the PASOK leaders involved in the Bloc of the 26 tended to take initiatives on their wn. From October 11 to November 14, the date of the general strike, hardly a single day passed without a strike or demonstration, in Athens as well as in the rest of the country. These were revolving actions that finally culminated on November 14 in an almost total general strike.
that day, more than 80% of blies in all the working-class centers, massive demonstrations almost everywhere. was the biggest mobilization since the fall of the dictatorship, and much more active and militant than those in recent
The November 14 mobilizaton was no doubt decisive for the breadth of the public workers general strike that took place two weeks later, on November 28. It has to be noted that out of the 25 leaders of this confederation -which is quite tightly controlled by the PASOK - only one expressed support for the austerity measures.
For example, the president of the Confederation of Public Workers, who is a member of the Central Committee of the PASOK, wanted to resign from the leadership of the party, and it was only because of very strong pressures that were brought on him that he gave up the idea.
Moreover, the struggles did not stop after the public workers strike. The taxi drivers went on strike. And yesterday, November 29, controllers went out. The movement is continuing.
Q. In a more general way, what are the implications of all this for the PASOK? How has the leadership
A. The PASOK leadership is trying to extricate itself as best it can, using the instruments at its disposal, first of all the judicial machinery. In fact, as soon as the Bloc of the 26 called for the mobilization, the courts intervened to rule that the decisions taken were illegal, inasmuch as this not represent the official
Moreover, the tribunals think that they can impose new leaderships by judicial decrees, both in the GSEE and in various federations and specific unions. These measures have not yet been implemented, but the rulings have already been made. It remains to be seen what is going to
In addition, the PASOK has spread slander everywhere accusing the leaders of the Bloc of the 26 of being provocateurs linked to the right-wing parties, of trying to destabilize the PASOK, and trying to undermine the policy of "The Change." The most venomous attacks have been reserved for the seven former leaders of the PASOK, who have been called enemies of the people and agents of imperialism. The PASOK has gone even further, organizing groups that have intervened alongside the cops to break the strikes.
Q. What are the perspectives
It seems, unfortunately, that the Bloc of the 26 is retreating step by step. Of course, the members this group continue to proclaim that the fight has to be continued, and that attention has to be focused on the contracts for each union and federation, etc. In this respect, it is unlikely that the seven former PASOK leaders will rejoin the party in the short term. But, at the same time, we know that
Bloc of the 26 is maneuvering behind the scenes in an attempt to reach an agreement with the PASOK
For the moment, the masses have confidence in the reformist leaders who took the leadership of the strug gle, and there are real possibilities that the mobilization will broaden. We know for example that more than forty enterprises are going to close soon because of bankruptcy. These are plants controlled by the PASOK, and only some of them took part in the November 14 general strike.
Now, the unions in these enterprises, who are aware of the economic situation, have set up a coordinating committee to prepare a response. So, another sector linked to the PASOK is ready to take its distance from the party and link up with the Bloc of the 26. But the problem is to outline perspectives for unity to keep the mobilization from ebbing.
If the Bloc of the 26 maintains its positions against the austerity policy, there is a good chance that these leaders will be ousted from the leadership of the SEE and that they will be tempted to leave the confederation.
We think that they have to be stopped from taking such a decision, because one split leads to another and we will soon be faced with a total dispersal of forces. In that event, the PASOK will not fail to do anything it can to divide the movement, and the weakest and least organized sectors - those that will be the first to pay the price for the government's policy - will be in danger of finding themselves completely isolated.
However, if you consider the sum of the forces ready to struggle, it is clear that, if they coordinate their efforts, the government can be forced to backtrack. It was taken completely by surprise by the scope of the response and has its back to the wall.
In any case, if the reformist leaders, who took a step forward in opposing Papandreou, betray the hopes of
International Viewpoint 13 January 1986
the masses, it is very likely, given the atmosphere of determination that exists, that we will see the emergence of a new vanguard workers current basing itself on the experience of the present mass struggle.
For our part, we think that the emergence of an anticapitalist front is possible, and that this would represent a decisive advance for the Greek working class. Our group must work for such a perspective, alongside the other far-left groups that are convinced of the crucial importance of what is going on at this moment in the working class.
This is why in all the mobilizations in which we participate, we
Members of the Democratic Unionist Party demonstrate inside Hillsborough constantly hammer the away on question of trade-union independence and unity against austerity, inflation, and unemployment and for reducing