Scioperi e manifestazioni in Grecia contro le misure di austerità
● Contro il programma di austerità per ridurre il deficit di bilancio e il debito pubblico (al 12,7% del PIL) a spese dei lavoratori greci, con importanti tagli salariali per il PI e del welfare, e aumento delle tasse, sollecitato dalle banche internazionali e dalla UE, serie di scioperi e proteste in una sessantina di città in Grecia, organizzate dal sindacato PAME (Fronte militante di tutti i lavoratori) legato al KKE (Partito Comunista Greco), ed appoggiati dalla SYRIZA (Coalizione della sinistra radicale).
● Nonostante le proteste sociali non siano state molto forti, i mercati finanziari internazionali e la UE temono che possano frenare le riforme strutturali in Grecia ed espandersi ad altri paesi.
o Questo sarebbe il motivo, secondo il britannico Guardian, del declassamento da parte della società di rating Standard & Poor’s del rating di credito per la Grecia da AAA- a BBB+ ; si prevede che anche Moody seguirà lo stesso rating.
o UE e BCE hanno avvertito che non forniranno altri prestiti alla Grecia.
o Sei mesi fa, l’allora ministro tedesco alle Finanze, Steinbruck, chiese all’Europa di sostenere l’economia greca per prevenire il collasso di altri paesi dell’Euro;
o dopo l’elezione di Papandreu, dietro l’avvertimento del presidente di Deutsche Bank che la Grecia era una delle “bombe a tempo” innescata dalla crisi finanziaria internazionale, “la punta di un iceberg”, che comprende anche Italia, Spagna, Irlanda, Lettonia e Ungheria.
● la cancelliera Merkel ha cambiato posizione: nessun salvataggio per la Grecia; governo tedesco e BCE non vogliono creare un precedente per altri paesi fortemente indebitati.
● Merkel e BCE: la UE potrebbe assumere il controllo diretto della politica finanziaria greca, una dichiarazione che viola in modo inedito la sovranità nazionale.
– Ad Atene, circa 5000 lavoratori, soprattutto del PI, compresi gli insegnanti, marcia verso il Parlamento greco.
– Ha aderito allo sciopero il sindacato giornalisti ESYA.
o I due maggiori sindacati greci, GSEE (Confederazione generale dei lavoratori greci), con 60000 iscritti, e Adedy (sindacato dei dipendenti civili della Amministrazione superiore, 200 000 iscritti.
o Entrambi i sindacati comprendono molti salariati dei trasporti ed entrambi sono legati al PASOK (Movimento socialista panellenico, al governo.
o I due sindacati dovrebbero avere un ruolo importante per far passare le rigide misure di austerità annunciate dal governo del PASOK per contrastare la crisi del debito pubblico.
– Ci sono attualmente contrasti tra i due sindacati filo-governativi e PAME, KKE e SYRIZA, ma questi ultimi non rappresentano un’alternativa al governo PASOK:
o il post-stalinista KKE cerca di non far allargare le proteste nel timore che siano una minaccia per le burocrazie sindacali socialdemocratiche; un anno fa’ il KKE (che nel 1989 fece per breve tempo parte della coalizione di governo con il conservatore Nuova Democrazia) ha condannato le proteste dei giovani, definiti “violenti criminali”.
o SYRIZA è un’alleanza di Verdi, Maoisti e gruppi della “sinistra” piccolo-borghese, sostanzialmente riformista. Il suo leader, Alexis Tsipras, si è congratulato con il primo ministro Georgios Papandreu per la recente vittoria elettorale.
o La società di rating, Fitch, ha abbassato il rating del debito greco facendo salire il tasso di interesse dei prestiti richiesti dallo Stato greco.
Nell’ultima settimana registrato un forte aumento della disoccupazione, e forte calo del mercato azionario; la crisi finanziaria greca ha già avuto ripercussioni sull’euro, calato sul $, con il tasso di cambio più basso in tre mesi.
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Strikes and demonstrations in Greece against austerity measures
– A series of strikes and protests by public service workers took place in up to 60 cities and towns across Greece on Thursday. The protests were organized by the PAME (All-Workers Militant Front) trade union[e] organization, which is affiliated to the Greek Communist Party (KKE). The actions were supported by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA).
– In Athens, an estimated 5,000 workers, primarily from the public sector and including teachers, took part in a march to the Greek parliament. The strike was joined in the capital by the ESYEA journalists union, resulting in the closure of many national newspapers and severely restricting radio and television news reports. The national news agency Ana also suspended its news service.
– The strikes were pointedly not supported by the country’s two biggest unions—the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), with 600,000 members in the private sector, and the Supreme Administration of Greek Civil Servants Trade Unions (Adedy), with 200,000 members in the public sector.
o Both union[e] federations include large numbers of transport workers and both have close relations with the social democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which heads the Greek government. These two federations are expected to play a key role in implementing the harsh austerity measures recently announced by the PASOK government to tackle its debt crisis.
– Although there is currently friction between the two union[e] federations that back the government and the PAME, KKE and SYRIZA, none of the latter organizations represent an alternative to PASOK and its austerity program. The main concern of the post-Stalinist KKE is to prevent any expansion of protests which could seriously threaten the country’s trade union[e] and social democratic bureaucracies. The right-wing character of the KKE, which briefly entered a coalition with the conservative New Democracy party in 1989, is demonstrated by its condemnation of youth protests a year ago as the work of “violent criminals run amok.”
– For its part, SYRIZA—an alliance of Greens, Maoists and other middle-class “left” groups—merely offers a version of reformist protest politics. Following the recent election, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras went so far as to telephone PASOK leader and current Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou to congratulate him on his party’s victory and wish him all the best.
– Demonstrators marching on the Greek parliament in Athens on Thursday shouted: “Don’t forget your promises Georgios,” referring to the pledges made by Papandreou in the recent election campaign. Prior to taking office, Papandreou and PASOK conducted an election campaign promising a range of measures to curb the privileges and wealth of the country’s ruling elite.
– Upon coming to power in October, PASOK was immediately subjected to pressure from the international banks and the European Union[e] to implement a draconian austerity program to slash the country’s budget deficit and public debt, at the expense of the country’s working population. The credit rating company Fitch promptly downgraded the country’s debt rating, thereby increasing the interest on its borrowings.
– The European Union[e] and the European Central Bank intervened to warn that they would not provide new loans to bail out the Greek economy.
– Six months ago, then-German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck declared that Europe might have to come to the assistance of the Greek economy in order to prevent a collapse of other Eurozone economies. Following the election of Papandreou, however, a very different tone was struck by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
– After being warned by the chairman of Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, that Greece was one of a number of “time bombs” left ticking by the international financial crisis,
– Merkel declared unequivocally that there would be no European bailout for Greece. The German government and the European Central Bank are concerned that any additional financial aid for Greece could be a precedent for other highly indebted countries.
– According to Norbert Barthle, a senior budget spokesman in Merkel’s parliamentary faction, “It’s not the job of the EU to rescue bankrupt states. Greece is the current problem child, but it’s not an isolated case, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Barthle went on to note that other European countries with similar problems included Italy, Spain, Ireland, Latvia and Hungary.
– The German chancellor and the European Central Bank have indicated that the EU may even assume direct control of Greek financial policy—an unprecedented violation of national sovereignty.
– Although Papandreou strived to assure the banking community and the EU that his government was intent on reducing its deficit (currently 12.7 percent of gross domestic product) to below 3 percent by 2013, Brussels has made clear it wants to see more concrete measures. Fellow EU members and credit rating agencies have urged Greece to follow the example of Ireland and implement far more draconian measures, including major cuts in public sector wages and welfare benefits.
– In his crisis speech to the nation last Monday, Prime Minister Papandreou sought to respond to the combined pressure of the banks and the EU by announcing a number of measures aimed at slashing public spending and raising tax revenues. The “painful” measures he outlined would hit public sector workers and salaried staff especially hard.
– The response by the banking community to Papandreou’s speech was prompt. Too little detail on the attacks to be carried out on the population was the general verdict of financial circles to the prime minister’s proposals. On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s cut Greece’s credit rating to BBB+ from AAA-, and Moody’s is expected to follow suit.
– According to the British Guardian newspaper, the decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Greek debt was prompted by “the prospect of social unrest wrecking long overdue structural reforms.”
– Despite the limited scale of Thursday’s strike in Greece, the international financial markets and the EU are worried that social discontent could spill over to other countries as unemployment and economic instability increase. This week Greece registered a sharp increase in its unemployment rate and share prices tumbled on the Greek stock exchange.
– The fiscal crisis in Greece has already had repercussions for the euro, which has fallen considerably this week, sliding to $1.44 against the US dollar, its lowest exchange rate in three months.
The situation in Greece is being observed with concern across the continent and also from the other side of the Atlantic.
– In its latest bulletin on Greece, the US security think tank Stratfor concludes: “We can, therefore, expect the following year to continue to be a highly volatile one for Greece. Greece already has had a turbulent end in both 2008 and 2009, with an increase in violent anarchist activity and outbursts of social unrest. The rest of Europe will be nervously watching how Athens’ budgetary measures are received by both international investors and the Greek public.”
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