Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 15:02:38 GMT From: Keith Standring<itusc-AT-gn.apc.org> Subject: M-NEWS: GREEK EDUCATORS' STRIKES GREEK EDUCATORS' STRIKES by Nikos Papadopoulos (ITUSC activist) The strikes which occurred earlier this year in Greece in the education sector are a turning point not only for this specific sector, but for the general situation.Combined with the peasants' movement, it showed that the 'new age of modernisation' of Greek capitalism, promoted by the Simiti's government will not be a way of demolishing social rights without resistance. The importance of these strikes, especially that of the professors, is that they showed that the 'modernisation of the system' will face a rival from now on. The professors' strike stated last January with a basic demand for an increase in wages, so that they can live from their salaries, without being forced to do a second job in order to survive. After about 10 days the teachers also came out on strike. Both strikes were unprepared, arose from the pressure of the members and took place despite fierce opposition from the union leadership, who were concerned only to find the appropriate opportunity to stop the strikes. The duration and the dynamic of these strikes, especially that of the professors, is something unique. Similar strikes occurred in 1988 and 1990. The previous one was smashed by authoritarian means by the conservative government of New Democracy. The basic demands of both recent strikes were the increase in salaries and job creation in the public sector. The government initially rejected both demands, particularly the economic ones. At the end of the strike, the government was forced to make compromises on the job creation issue, promising to employ more teachers and professors in the public sector next year. As far as the economic demands are concerned, the government accepted some increases in some benefits that are additional to salaries, but it refused to reconsider the fundamental economic policy - the policy of austerity - which has been applied in Greece since 1986. The importance of these strikes is not that they were victorious and led to the acceptance of the demands, but that they prepared a consciousness of resistance in the new era of capitalist 'modernisation'. The teachers had not been on strike for 17 years. The trade union bureaucracy had succeeded in largely disarming this sector. When the strike started on the one hand the teachers' union bureaucracy was forced to follow the mood of the membership in order not to lose total control of the situation, but on the other hand, it behaved as the agent of government by ultimately breaking the strike. After 13 days of a great battle it succeeded in ending the strike, by organising counter-strike machinery especially in the provinces, where it faced least resistance. At a meeting of local union representatives it was decided to end the strike, but the ballots were rigged. In contrast to the teachers, the trade union leadership of the professors failed to erode the strike from within. The strikers faced the courts. After 2 months on strike, with a high degree of member participation a court in Athens ruled the strike illegal. What it is important to note is that the teachers and professors returned to their schools and colleges without feeling defeated, but with the confidence that the strike had taught them that the enemy is not just outside, but also inside the ranks of the union bureaucracy. This is why these strikes are regarded as a real turning-point for the Greek trade union movement. ________________________________________________________________ International Trade Union Solidarity Campaign (ITUSC) at:- PO Box 18, Epsom, Britain KT18 7YR Tel/Fax: ++44 (0) 1372 817778 e-mail: itusc-AT-gn.apc.org URL: http://www.itusc.org.uk The ITUSC is an international and internationalist association of organised workers and communities of resistance, dedicated to rebuilding the workers' movement and to overcoming sectarianism and division in working class organisations. ________________________________________________________________
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