The largest strike mobilization of recent years was held on 4/2/2016. Thousands of people, workers, farmers, self-employed, students and school-students, filled the streets of all the country's major cities, with as their central demand the withdrawal of the SYRIZA-ANEL government's draft law for the social security system.

This law has been characterized as a "law-guillotine", as it reduces pensions, increases the social security contributions of the workers, reduces state spending on the public system of health and welfare and increases the retirement age.

The strike demonstrations of the All-workers' Militant Front (PAME), together with the forces of the social people's alliance, were the most mass in character all over the country. The other components of this alliance are: the "All-farmers Militant Rally" (PASY), the "Nationwide Anti-monopoly Rally" (PASEVE), the forces of the Students' Struggle Front (MAS), the Federation of Greek Women (OGE).The farmers with their tractors took part in the workers' strike mobilizations in many Greek cities, symbolizing the common struggle of the working class with the poor and medium farmers.

Thousands of workers all over the country fought to defend the strike early in the morning, outside the factories, the shops, the services, ports etc., against the strike-breaking apparatus of the employers. Production and services came to a standstill across the entire country.

PAME's demonstration in Athens was enormous. It passed in front of the Parliament. When the head of the march reached the Columns of Olympian Zeus, its tail was still in Omonia sq, filling all the central roads for a distance of over 3 kilometres. It was a mass popular mobilization, which according to all the estimates was at least 4 times the size of the other demonstration organized by the compromised leaderships of the GSEE and ADEDY federation together with social-democratic and ultra-left groups, and groups of so-called "anti-authoritarians", who at the end engaged in some small-scale incidents with the police.

The speaker at the central rally of PAME was G. Perros, member of the Executive Secretariat of PAME, who attacked the plans of the SYRIZA-ANEL government, the EU and big capital, stressing that:"The big businesses will not give up on pursuing their interests! They have immediate and vital interests in dismantling Social Security. The measures mean new wealth and the increase of profitability for them. For us, however, they mean even greater misery, poverty, a life without rights, minimal health and welfare cover!

We have the power to stop them! We have the power to escalate our struggle, so that they come face to face with impregnable wall created by the people and a solid front of struggle that will not be stemmed.”

Christos Pasoulas, a member of the National Secretariat of PASY and Valentin Pacho, Deputy General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) also addressed the rally.

Statement of the GS of the CC of the KKE

The GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, attended PAME's strike rally in Athens and made the following statement:

"The great success of the general strike, the large demonstrations in all the country's cities, the militant roadblocks of the farmers, the participation of hundreds of thousands of self-employed, professionals-scientists, youth and women from the popular families send a message: This situation cannot continue.

The monstrous draft law that destroys the social-security system must be withdrawn immediately. The anti-worker and anti-people laws must be abolished. We escalate and continue the struggle until the final victory. With working class unity, with the workers in the frontline, with the social people's alliance of all the workers in every sector. With an orientation against the monopolies that exploit us, against the capitalist system that drags down the lives of the working people even further. We must take matters into our own hands."

Statement of PAME

In its statement after the strike, PAME calls for more militant, more dynamic struggles, with more advanced forms, for an increase in the number of mobilizations, with general meetings in the workplaces, with work stoppages, sectoral strikes. There must be struggles in every sector, every union must take the decision for a new even bigger and mass strike so that they will not dare to bring the draft law to Parliament to be voted on.

As the Statement stresses:

"Today’s strike was special. It clearly demonstrated that without the working people nothing works. No factories, no farms, no shops, no ports, trains, no forms of transport. When the working people stop production, the country comes to a standstill!

The great success of today’s strike, the massive strike rallies in every city, the militant roadblocks of the poor farmers all over Greece, the streets that flooded with people, reveal the potential  that exists today to block the new crime of the Government against Social Security, to move forward with new demands.

Today’s strike revealed the great weapon of the people: the alliance of workers, self-employed, poor farmers, women, and youth. The success of today’s general strike shows the strength of the popular alliance, how important and valuable its formation and strengthening are, with demands and slogans that strike at the heart of those who enrich themselves at our expense today,  our exploiters, the monopolies, the big employers, the EU and their governments.[..]

The working class and popular strata can live as they deserve. For this reason we must not retreat an inch from the slogan "the law-guillotine must not pass", from the demand that this monstrous draft law that dismantles and buries social security must be withdrawn.

PAME calls for more militant, more powerful struggles, with more advanced forms! We can stop this crime!

Every day they must feel our presence, in every workplace, branch, school, university, apprenticeship, neighborhood, everywhere!

This is not the End! This is the beginning!”

05.02.2016