Greek workers and youth are infuriated with the leaked German government document which proposes that an EU ‘Budget Commissioner’ should be installed in Greece to take control of the economy.
The proposal has sharpened the grave political crisis of the Greek government of the IMF-imposed prime minister – banker Lucas Papademos
On top of this, last Saturday the Athens newspapers published the diktats of the IMF-EC-ECB team (the so-called ‘troika’) for huge and widespread wage cuts, the abolition of national labour collective agreements and immediate privatisation of state enterprises such as the post-office, railways, etc.
Despite talks in the last two months, there is still no agreement between the Greek government and the IIF (International Institute of Finance) on the ‘haircut’ of the Greek bonds held by private banks and hedge-funds.
The EC have decided that there will be no more money for Greece unless there is an agreement reached with the IIF and that the Vouli (Greek parliament) votes to accept fully the troika’s demands.
It is becoming more clear that what the EC are preparing is a so-called ‘controlled bankruptcy’ for Greece.
The EC and the IMF are preparing a plan where all Greece’s finances will be used to pay creditors, thus leaving no money at all for the Greek state to pay wages, pensions and to run services.
Since last week the EC leaders and the German finance minister have been claiming that the responsibility for the Greek bankruptcy lies with the Greek governments, who have not implemented the EC-IMF demands. Thus the call for the appointment of a ‘Commissioner’ on Greece.
This call has been unanimously condemned by all Greek political parties, including those who are making up the current coalition government headed by Papademos.
But that is only a cheap gesture on behalf of the bourgeois politicians who have been implementing every single demand made by the EC and IMF.
On Monday a leading columnist of the Athens daily Kathimerini, the mouthpiece of the bankers and industrialists, stated that ‘the Greek ruling class is bankrupt’ and welcomed the proposal for an EC imposed Commissioner.
Despite total inaction by the leaders of the GSEE (Greek TUC) and ADEDY (public sector trades unions federation) Greek workers in the media and in the steel industry are continuing their struggles along with thousands who demonstrated last Friday in Athens against new taxes imposed through electricity bills.
More than 1,200 journalists and media workers attended an Athens-wide trade union meeting to decide on indefinite strike action. A ballot will be held this week.