Monday, July 12, 2010

Greek General strike of, July 8: Workers’ direct militant response to the demolition of the social security system

The strike demonstrations organised by All Workers’ Militant Front (PAME) on Thursday 8th July in Athens and in 63 cities rank among the most massive ones over the last months.

Factories, construction sites, offices, ports, airports, public transport, media were literally paralysed. The picket lines mounted in front of numerous factories facilitated to go on strike the workers in many workplaces who face the employers’ intimidation and blackmails. In addition, the class oriented forces proceeded to symbolic sit-ins of public buildings in a series of cities. The 13th strike demonstration over the last 7 months was staged on the day when the parliament was passing the grotesque bill on social security which establishes 40 contribution years and retirement age 65 years both for men and women, abolishes the list of hazardous occupations, hands over to the big capital the property which has left to the insurance funds while at the same time it establishes wages far below the collective labour agreements for the young people under 25 years old.

In fact this bill implements the guidelines of the EU Green Paper on the pension systems, according to the “2020 strategy” promoted currently by the EU. Thus, the working class is forced to work till death while those who survive will receive a gratuity instead of a pension.

The bill was passed by the social democrat PASOK, as well as by the liberal ND and the nationalist LAOS that voted a series of separate articles, though at the same time they hypocritically voted against several others. KKE condemned the anti-labour bill and voted against it.

At the same time, anticommunism intensifies through the attack on the party’s finances. Furthermore, the new bill about the local elections promotes the ban on political parties to use coupons for their financial support. In Greece this method is followed by KKE and constitutes the main means of its financial support.

During the discussion in the Parliament, the General Secretary of the CC of KKE, Aleka Papariga, answered to the anticommunist attack and the measures of the bourgeoisie that target the activity and the economic independence of KKE. She stressed: “the war against KKE is absolutely normal. We would be surprised if it was absent under the conditions of the crisis. Nevertheless, anticommunism is a different thing. We know very well that you will turn against KKE. But you should take into consideration the following: we won’t be frightened and we also know who take part in these meetings. But this is not the point. The point is that this situation indicates that new measures are coming; that you want to beat the movement and you even call other parties to participate in this effort. We will not become a state-dependent party, neither a party serving the system nor a state-dependent party.”

In the framework of its ongoing multiform activity, which does not restrict merely to the strikes, PAME organised a big concert in the centre of Athens. The concert was held two days before the strike in cooperation with the Pan-Hellenic Music Association and the Association of Greek Actors with the participation of famous singers and actors. Thousands of friends of PAME attended the concert where the voice of strikers met with artists and workers.

The action of PAME continues in the sectors, with struggles in the workplaces, with the foundation of hundreds of factory committees throughout the country, responding to the dismissals and the employers’ intimidation that intensifies.

Stop privatization of higher education in Himachal: CPI(M)

In opposition to privatisation of higher education by permitting opening of many private universities, Communist Party of India (Marxist) plans to launch a state wide agitation and intends to knock the doors of the court for containing the government’s plans.

“Rampant privatisation of higher education has severely undermined the creditability of the entire education system in the state,” says Tikender Panwar, a CPI(M) leader.
The party has stated that Chitkara University, one of new private universities in the state, held its admission counseling at Chandigarh so as to avoid a fair and transparent process on the campus.

Shortcomings have surfaced in the functioning of Manav Bharti University and yet the government has failed to take stern action against the promoters of the institution, says Panwar. Admission process at the first counselling at EIET University Baddi which was recently upgraded from a college to a university only proved that money making was prime motive of the private institution, he added.

Far from making the state a hub of higher education, privatisation of the education has only facilitated transfer of land to promoters who otherwise are restricted from buying land in Himachal, the party said. To stop privatisation of higher education, CPI(M) will launch a state wide agitation and even knock the doors of the High Court to put a check on the government, said Panwar. 
(Courtesy : Myhimachal.com)

Investigate True Nature of Terrorist Activities

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The interrogation of some responsible RSS functionaries in Uttar Pradesh on their links with Hindutva terror groups is a serious development. Hindutva terror groups are suspected to be behind the bomb blasts targeting the minority community in at least three incidents in which innocent people were killed. These are the blasts in Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad. That RSS pracharaks are suspected to be linked to such elements cannot be put down to individual aberrations but it is precisely the hatred filled irrational propaganda and inculcation of rabid anti-minorityism by the RSS which is responsible.

The Congress led UPA has been tardy in investigating these links which have been raised in different fora repeatedly. In 2006, in the context of the Nanded bomb blasts and the blast at the RSS office in Coimbatore, which it was later found that RSS workers themselves had engineered, demands had been raised in parliament by the CPI(M) for a comprehensive inquiry to probe whether there was a wider network in operation. The Government did not act. At least now, it must pursue the cases on a fast track without compromise so that the true nature of these terrorist activities are revealed.