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A new strike for Wednesday 6/6 has been called by the dockworkers in Piraeus. The government has great responsibility for the attack on the right to strike

Well-coordinated and with their heads held high, dockworkers from Piers II and III of the Container Terminal (SEMPO) in the Port of Piraeus returned to work late Friday night, 1/6, having completed almost three 24-hour strikes. In the previous days, with unending ‘carbon-copy’ decisions and pushing through  proceedings at top speed, on Friday the court ruled ‘illegal’ both the strike that was called by the Labor Center of Piraeus and their union.

However, the employees at their General Assembly decided to suspend the mobilization and proceeded to declare a new strike for 6 a.m. Wednesday 6th June. The decision was taken unanimously at a new mass General Assembly that took place at the gates of the "COSCO" monopoly installations in the port.

Through their struggle, the workers sent a clear message to the bosses and the government that they are united and determined to continue their struggle for the signing of a satisfactory Collective Bargaining Agreement, for permanent stable work with full labor rights, for their inclusion in the category of ‘heavy and unhealthy occupations’ and for health and safety measures in the workplace.

The decisiveness of the workers crushed whatever effort was made to set up a strike-busting mechanism, turning the court decisions that characterized their strikes as ‘illegal’ into a worthless piece of paper, sparking off a wave of solidarity and revealing in the eyes of all workers what government and capital mean when they speak of ‘just development’.

The President of the Labor Center of Piraeus, Nikos Xourafis in his greetings to the great strike struggle waged by the workers, warned the bosses not to “dare touch a hair on the head of a striker”. The General Assembly concluded in a climate of enthusiasm, with slogans and vigorous applause.

From the employer’s side, on Friday they proposed to the workers to ‘commence a dialogue’, with the condition that they stop the strike, with the first meeting to be held on 25th June. The workers rejected the proposal.

 

Photos from the strike and from the general assembly of the workers

In a statement by the All-Workers’ Militant Front (PAME) it denounced the court decision of the First Instance Court of Piraeus on Thursday that ruled illegal the 24-hour strike by the “COSCO” monopoly and Piraeus Port Authority workers, as well of the Labor Center of Piraeus.

As it stresses in the statement: “A new black page has been added to the anti-labor bible of the so-called ‘independent’ Justice. The decision of the Piraeus Court of First Instance that raced to issue an injunction in just a few hours against the just struggle of the workers, to declare the strike “illegal and abusive” is abhorrent and shameful, adding; “The government is complicit, because it implements all the decisions of capital. It holds great responsibility because it puts forwards legislation and argumentation, shielding big business, fortifying it against the workers and their struggles.”

Support for the strike was expressed by many Labor Centers and mass organizations all over Greece, as well as the USB dockworkers at the Port Of Trieste (Italy), the Labor Center of Marseille (France), the Labor Center of Cher (France), the trade union organization OSCMS (Czech Republic), the Construction Workers’ Union of Northern Denmark.

 

 

 

04.06.2018