The working class moves against Greece’s Syriza government
By
Alex Lantier
19 January 2018
This week, tens of thousands of workers in key industries in Greece took strike action against European Union (EU) austerity measures imposed by the Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) government. This action took place amid a rising wave of strikes and mass protests across Europe and the Middle East—with clashes in Iran and Tunisia, and strikes in Germany and Britain.
The international resurgence of the class struggle at the beginning of 2018, and in particular the struggle in Greece, poses critical questions of political perspective and strategy. An unmistakable indication of its revolutionary implications is the fact that masses of workers are coming into conflict with a pseudo-left party that has passed for the “radical left” or the “far left” of the political establishment. The working class is emerging as the main force defending basic social and democratic rights in political struggle against Syriza.
The measures Syriza is imposing are proof that it and its sister parties are not “left,” but right-wing parties, consciously hostile to the workers. The EU “multi-bill” includes prohibitions on strikes; cutting workers’ bonuses paid for heavy or dangerous work; drastic cuts or the elimination of family benefits for nearly 70,000 families; measures to facilitate foreclosures; a wave of new school closures; the deregulation of energy and transport companies, pharmacies, bakeries, and other firms; and the building of casinos.
Workers protested in particular Syriza’s attack on the right to strike, inscribed in the Greek constitution. One worker bitterly noted, “Blood was shed by generations that came before us to have the right to strike. Now a…