Greece

On Monday 23 of June 2008 Bangladeshi foremen and thugs in the pay of the “LADY FASHION” clothing sweatshop in Votanikos, Athens, attacked Bangladeshi immigrant workers who had refused to work in the previous day (Sunday being an official day-off in Greece), using iron bars and wooden clubs.

The residents of Lefkimi in the south of Corfu island in greece are opposed to the construction of an Open Garbage-Dump (XYTA) near their town. The residents claimed that their marginalised, underdeveloped area known for its left-wing tradition and defience was being used as a refuse for the tourist-industry produced garbage of the north.

In the morning of the 10th of May 2008, the residents of Agios Dimitris,a town near the north-Greek city of Kozani, where the National Electric Company (DEH) holds its majors units, employing the vast majority of the working population, having formed a local Union against Unemployment occupied the north gate of the Agios Dimitrios Power-Plant, interrupting the function of the feed-belts carrying l

The pension reform raises the retirement age for women to 65 and workers in hazardous industries will have to work an extra two years. Many accuse the conservative government of going back on pre-election promises not to cut pension rights.

The government's reforms would mean the merging of pension funds and increasing the pension age for some workers. The government, however, has not made public any details on the size of savings that will accrue from the reforms. The trade unions have also argued that the current pension system could survive if bosses were made to pay their contributions.

Last Wednesday saw a three-hour general stoppage called by the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE), during which doctors, engineers, pharmacists and lawyers joined bank workers and rubbish collectors already on strike. The day ended with a march on parliament attended by hundreds of workers.

The strike has disrupted service at the country's central bank, and has brought chaos to electronic trading systems, as well as stock and bond trading. Thousands of workers have been on strike since Monday, and it was decided on Tuesday to continue the action.

The strikes have virtually paralysed the country as workers nation-wide seek to defend their pensions and protest against a government that has broken its promises.

Launched by Greece's two largest unions, the strike has affected all public services, hospitals, banks, courts and airports. All flights out of Athens airport have been grounded after air traffic controllers, pilots and flight crews walked out, and ferry and metro systems across the country have been hit.

AP reported that police have stepped up checks at Paphos, Cyprus' second-largest airport, in recent weeks following European Union criticism of its security.

But a spokesman for the workers accused police of unfairly targeting some employees with excessive security checks, forcing one man to remove his dentures and requiring others to put their lunch through X-ray machines.

The Acropolis will be closed this weekend as well as next weekend in support of workers' demands. They are currently calling for a bonus for night work, an increased bonus for working six days and week and for permanent jobs for contract workers.

On Thursday, demonstrations were held against a law privatising Greek universities, university students, university teachers, some school students and zworkers joined a demonstration of 35000 people in Athens. There were clashes in the centre of Athens, outside the parliament buildings where the law was being passed.

On the 28th of April, the Greek ministry of education published a draft proposal for a bill regarding the reform of university education. The key points of this proposal are the following ones: Specific regulations for the expulsion of 'inefficient' students.

Occupation, not democracy!
Introduction

Teleprime is a call centre company which sells mobile phones and, more importantly, issues credit cards. It has many branches all over Athens (at least).

Rallies have been held in Athens and Salonika, whilst over 900 schools are occupied by pupils as part of an on-going battle over pay. There have been clashes between the protestors and parents, but the strike remains strong regardless. Students burned desks in the yard of one Athens school, after using furniture to blockade the gates.

This is the first of two articles written by two collaborators of "Alpha", a weekly Greek anarchist paper and published in issue 89, 7 April 1997

A short history of the Andartiko - the Greek Resistance partisans who fought against Italian and German fascist occupation.
[b]Its radical, democratic working class spirit was only put down after the Allied victory, by British forces and the Greek ruling class.

The eastern borders of Greece, which are also the exterior borders of the European Union, are almost redrawn by detention camps. These camps are usually former warehouses (on the islands of Mitilini, Chios, Samos, Kos, Rhodos, Evia and in the town of Volos, central Greece).