Greek civil servants strike demanding wage increases, repeal of anti-labour laws

Image via the KKE

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) reports that civil servants across the country are striking and demonstrating today (Wednesday, May 13). This comes after a decision by the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEDY), responding to a call from unions representing government agencies, public organizations, hospitals, local authorities, schools, and other sectors. This strike constitutes the first militant response to the government’s announcements of new reactionary changes to the decayed and anti-popular state through constitutional revisions.

Through the strike, the unions are demanding:

• 20% wage increases, the restoration of the holiday bonuses, and the abolition of anti-popular taxation.

• Mass recruitment of permanent staff to meet actual needs.

• The abolition of “flexible” forms of employment and the conversion of contract workers into permanent employees.

• No to privatizations and the outsourcing of responsibilities to private contractors.

• The repeal of anti-labour laws and the new disciplinary code for civil servants.

• No to the abolition of permanent employment.

• The disengagement of the country from war plans and the return of Greek troops and frigates deployed abroad.

D. Koutsoumbas: We support the struggle of civil servants and their just demands

In a statement regarding today’s ADEDY strike, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, stressed the following:

“The civil servants striking today are right to demand wage increases, the restoration of the holiday bonuses, the permanent recruitment of all contract workers, mass hiring of permanent staff, and an end to dismissals. They are right to oppose the reactionary constitutional changes being advanced by Mr. Mitsotakis and his government at the expense of their rights and those of the people as a whole, through measures such the abolition of permanent employment, the ‘cutter’ on social spending in the name of ‘fiscal sustainability’, the revision of Article 16, and so forth. We support the struggle of civil servants and their just demands. If the government believes that the new disciplinary law it has passed will succeed in silencing them, it is profoundly mistaken.”