Greece

At the beginning of October one of the most successful general strikes of the last few years took place in Greece. More than 15,000 workers and youth gathered in front of the headquarters of the General Federation of Greek Workers in Athens with a very militant mood demanding the withdrawal of the government measures against the workers' conditions of work.

The political climate is hotting up along with the weather. The streets of Athens and Salonika are filled with noisy demonstrators waving flags and placards directed against the Pasok government of Costas Simitis (the Greek Tony Blair). But these are demonstrations with a difference. At the head march black-robed bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church, who claim to represent the big majority of the Greek people.

Konstatin Simitis--the Greek Tony Blair--is a worried man. Elected after the death of Andreas Papandreu less than two years ago as leader of the Greek socialist party (PASOK) under the banner of "modernisation" he had 70% of public opinion behind him. Now it has dropped to 18%. The streets of Athens (congested at the best of times) are regularly blocked with demonstrations of angry bankworkers, airline employees and teachers. The premises of the Ionian bank, which the government wants to privatise, are occupied by the workers and covered with black flags. Alan Woods reports from Greece.

Events in Greece are especially relevant to the British Labour Movement because right wing PASOK (Socialist Party) leader Simitis is pursuing similar policies to those of Tony Blair and so-called "New Labour." This has led to an explosion of anger, not only on the streets, but in the trade unions and in PASOK itself. The PASOK union leaders were pro-Simitis one year ago, but now they have been forced into semi-opposition. Under pressure from below, they called a one-day general strike on April the 8th. Alan Woods reports.