Today, January 17th marks a very important date in the recent history of labour struggle in Greece – responding to, and in solidarity with the struggle of the workers at Greek Steelworks, the six Labour Centres of Greater Athens (Attica) and the Workers/Employees Union of Athens have called a city-wide strike.

Approximately 15,000 people took to the streets of the city on the day. What follows below is an excerpt from the text issued by base unions, workers groups, workers and unemployed in their call for the strike:

For the past two-and-a-half months, the caldrons of the Greek Steelworks remain unlit – but class war has been ignited instead.  The terrorising by the boss Manesis, with his tens of firings and his plan for employment in turns, has been cancelled out in practice and shattered in the face of the unity and fighting spirit of the tenacious workers and in the face of the river of solidarity, an oxygen-feed for the continuing strike.

For two and half months at the “Gates of Fire” [title of an independent documentary on the strike, in Greek] the striking workers show us the way of struggle. A struggle that has inspired the unpaid workers at the Loukisa factory, who have been denied their wages for the past month. The struggle that strengthens the workers at ALTER TV station, unpaid for months, those at the Eleftherotypia newspaper; it strengthens the resistance of workers at Notos Galleries struggling against employment in turns; it led the workers at the factories of AGNO and MEVGAL to victory.

The bosses, after the troika and the greek strate paved them the way, believed they could easily in the midst of the crisis suck out the last remains of the blood of the exploited. They have started to be contradicted by reality.

Now, more than ever, we must promote class solidarity and our common struggle. We must all, workers, unemployed, locals and migrants, not merely stand in solidarity with these struggles, but we must turn every workplace into a pole of struggle, without waiting anything from party or syndicalist bureaucracies.

(Greek original)

"As the 'gates of fire' burn, with the self-organisation, solidarity, the knowledge of our interests and our class consciousness we open up the 'gates of hell' for the bosses"

UPDATE, 15.50 GMT+2 A solidarity gathering has been called for 17.30 pm outside the police HQ on Alexandras Avenue.

UPDATE, 14.35 GMT+2 Two attorneys and scores of riot police stormed the radio station building, detaining all those who had participated in the solidarity action. The charges against them are brought automatically (aytapageltes) meaning that no call from the station’s owners was required for the attorneys/police to intervene. The charges fall under Greece’s most recent (third) anti-terrorist law and include “appraisal of terrorist actions and use of illegal force”.

In the morning of January 10th, members of the Solidarity Aseembly for the case of the Revolutionary Struggle (whose trial is currently underway) entered the corporate radio station Flash.gr on Kifisias Ave in Athens and interrupted the station’s program, to transmit a message of solidarity with those on trial.

Despite the fact that neither the station’s management, nor its staff wished any police intervention, scores of police (DIAS, Riot Police, undercovers) arrived on the spot within minutes. At the time of writing (14.05 GMT+2) after hours of being blocked inside the building, it is becoming increasingly evident that all those in solidarity that took part in the intervention will be detained and taken to the police HQ on Alexandras Ave.

More info as it comes.

Exploring Revolt in Greece from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

On December 6th 2008 a police shooting of a 16 year old innocent boy in Athens started a two week revolt in cities around Greece. Three years on people march in remembrance of Alexis Grigoropoulos. Greece now is very much in social and economic turmoil. This films looks at the events surrounding December as well as an inside look to the often cases of revolt in a country that is sinking deeply in recession. This film also explores the role that anti authoritarian movements play in Greece.

Dimitris Hatzivasiliadis is an anarchist who was arrested on February 11, 2011. Dimitris was in pre-trial detention since that date, charged with “weapon possession with intention to supply”. He was arrested possessing a weapon at a random police check and the original charge of gun possession (a misdemeanour) were converted into the above, in accordance with the anti-terrorist law. With his case remaining open for ten months with no substantial evidence whatsoever against him, the application for his release was finally signed on Monday and he is finally free.