On 12/6/23, dozens of people attended the event organized by the Party Organization of Attica under the theme “Who is the creator of the tourist miracle?”, where the GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, delivered a speech. Among other things, he mentioned the following:

“In a few days, the workers will be called upon to answer the crucial question at the ballot; that is, whether they will choose to give consent to the anti-popular policy —either by voting directly for New Democracy or for the parties that will continue to back it— or they will choose to put up obstacles, to struggle to have some gains and open a different path by joining forces with the KKE (...)

Only when the KKE was at the forefront, the workers have witnessed and felt in practice that only the people save the people, defending their rights to work, to Collective Labour Agreements, to protection from employer arbitrariness. At the same time New Democracy, SYRIZA and PASOK promoted tourism as the ‘engine of the economy’, which is fuelled by the intensification of exploitation of hotel workers and all workers in the sector (...)

The crippled maids due to overwork, the musculoskeletal disorders faced by the waiters due to the endless hours of standing on their feet and the millions of dishes that the cooks prepare every day, are some examples reflecting the ‘progress’ and ‘prosperity’ that the growth of the profits of the few brings for the many. The dozens of minor and serious workplace ‘accidents’ —as the law describes the crimes committed by the bosses and the increased occupational diseases compared to the past that cost the workers the ability to work and even their very lives, cannot be an indication of progress (...)

How can the €732.9 million of tourism receipts in the first quarter of 2023 be compared with zero increase in the number of employees? (...)

The hard-working people in the sector who are also experiencing —like all of us— the big price increase for popular consumer goods and the heavy taxation that continues unabated, to which all the other parties agree while at the same time providing tax breaks for the big business groups, understand that it is not contemporary and progressive to be paid with the same salaries as in 2009 or to get a raise of a few cents a day (…)

The KKE approaches the issue of tourism from a fundamentally different perspective than everyone else. It believes that tourism is not a commodity but a human need, a universal people’s right directly related to the replenishment of labour power.

In capitalist societies, as in our country, this began to be recognized, to a certain extent, thanks to the workers’ struggles, as a result of the influence of the countries that were building socialism, of the fierce class struggle and conflict. However, it was not established as a compulsory and free right, arising from the fact that the working class is the creator of wealth and must reap it in full.

Such rights were won by workers only in socialist countries, where the reduction of working time, free holidays and a lower retirement age were secured by the socialist system. Only in socialist countries was domestic tourism of a popular character, providing organized holidays and camps, specialization in welfare and healthcare needs and special infrastructure for children and young people. For the majority of workers, even in the most developed capitalist countries, these rights are a pipe dream.

The KKE sees the tourism economy as an integral part of another path of development, the socialist economy, where the wealth-producing resources and enterprises will be social, people’s property (…)

Now is the time for the greatest rallying possible to make the KKE stronger everywhere, in the elections of 25 June, the struggles and the trade unions, to change the negative correlation of forces and disregard trade union leaderships serving the employers and the governments.

We know first-hand that the organized struggle of workers, with large demonstrations characterized by their mass character and militancy, with the forces of the KKE at the forefront, resulted in Collective Labour Agreements, the gain of rights such as in the case of the e-food company, and the revocation of dismissals.

These achievements were not given away by the government. On the contrary, they were won by the workers in opposition to the governments of ND, SYRIZA and PASOK, which were hostile to our demands. Whatever the workers won, they won it because when faced with the dilemma ‘it is either their profits or our lives’ we responded with defending our lives, in a militant and decisive manner!

Therefore, in the elections of 25 June we are voting for our lives by casting the ballot paper of the KKE. They stand alone —with the profits of the hotel owners, the tourist groups, the platforms and the catering chains— against all of us, who, together with the KKE and the power of the many, will change everything!

Hope lies in a strong KKE!”

14.06.2023