Greece: Class struggle has no intervals

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... Greek referendum rejects austerity By OKDE-SPARTACOS OKDE-Spartacos is the Greek section of the Fourth International. Below is a statement published by the organization in mid-June (before the referendum) con­ cerning the negotiations between the Greek govern­ ment and international creditors.

1) Αll hopes that the working class can get rid of austerity by voting and electing a “government of the left” collapsed very soon. Syriza won the election and formed a government. Not a government of the left, of course, but a collaboration government along with the extreme right nationalist party Independent Greeks (ANEL) and with various social democrats.

However, Syriza is the primary determinant of the governmental policy. And this government of “nation­ al salvation” (this is the term for class collaboration in the language of politics), after some bravado, en­ tered an endless game of negotiating with creditors, with the troika, with imperialist institutions, and with capitalists both in Greece and Europe.

2) There are conflicts in this negotiation between the government and the Troika (IMF, ECB, and EU). However, none of the two sides represent the real interests of working people, the unemployed, the op­ pressed, and the poor.

3) Definitely, the cadres of capitalists and the po­ litical leaders of the EU have no intention to loosen the rate of applying austerity; neither do they intend to permit the slightest hope that one can escape this cage.

The established Greek bourgeois parties, New De­ mocracy and PASOK (alongside them the newly born POTAMI), have every reason to defend the brutal aus­ terity and the terrorizing authoritarianism that their own governments have imposed. They gather out of the parliament to demand that Greece stay in the eu­ ro-zone and to ask for further cuts and for the aboli­ tion of unionism.

The nazis of the Golden Dawn are waiting for their golden chance, to hypocritically denounce the sub­ mission of Syriza to the creditors, in order to apply the most cannibalistic version of capitalism, which is fascism.

4) On the other hand, the Syriza-ANEL government aims at a softer version of austerity, being backed by some parts of capital who realize that they have al­ ready exceeded the limits of social tolerance, as well as of the capitalist economy itself—which cannot sur­ vive without any demand for goods, i.e. wages nobody can buy anything with.

However, the government does not try to repeal any already imposed measures, by no means. On the con­ trary, their own proposals to the troika include fur­ ther attacks against working people: a reform of the pension system that will mean cuts in pensions and raises in age limits for getting retired, raises in basic goods consumption taxes, privatization of harbors and airports, etc.

5) Nevertheless, it is not just Syriza’s submissive­ ness to the creditors that it is to blame, as fair as the indignation is about their capitulation after the elec­ tion. The new austerity pact to come is the inevitable outcome of a political logic that rejects a rupture with the interests of bank owners and industrialists, with the rules of the capitalist game and with the institu­ tions of the state, which is made for the shake of the bosses.

The magical recipe that Syriza (as well as other left (continued from page 1: “Greeks vote NO to austerity”) of 2008, once again adapted to middle­ brow fears and to the bourgeoisie.

This class struggle wasn’t just limited to the vote. This fight actualized in the streets, in the working places, inside the universities, in the neighborhoods. Without the huge demonstrations and marches, the fear would have prevailed and the outcome of the election would have probably been different.

The anti-capitalist left and the revo­ lutionary organizations played the lead role in the NO movement and put pres­ sure on Syriza not to sign the agreement initially. Especially ANTARSYA [a coali­ tion of socialist groups], despite partial mistakes, became the strongest feature of the most dynamic and decisive part of the movement. The anti-capitalistic left is a social and political reality in the streets and in the working places. Syri­ za has no right to think that this move­ ment and this NO is its property.

The confidence this NO victory gives us should not become complacency. The next day should be a day of even harder battles. Without any doubt, Syriza will return to the negotiation table in order to discuss austerity measures regard­ ing the workers, with the hope that the institutions will be lenient. Also, with­ out any doubt too, the bourgeoisies of Greece and Europe, along with the bu­ reaucrats of EU, will try to take revenge. We should not let the NO be defeated, forces) is seeking in order to reconcile the interests of the capital with the needs of the workers, so that we, “our country,” can get out of the crisis all together, is simply non-existent. Our interests are incompatible with the interests of capitalists and with the “realism” of their economy. It is either them or us.

6) Therefore, there is no technical way, no good negotiation or clever handling that can get us out of the crisis. Neither do we want capitalism, this savage system of oppression and exploitation, to get out of its crisis. We want working people, the unemployed, and the oppressed to get out of the crisis of their lives. And this can’t be achieved but by confronting the institutions, domestic, European or international. It can’t be achieved but by confronting private prop­ erty over banks, factories, and big enterprises, where thousands of people work for the profit of a handful of bosses.

7) Any agreement with the troika must be prevent­ ed, no matter what “realism” dictates. And the only way to do this is through our own mass mobilization. Through the strikes that are being planned against the new agreement. Through the massive demonstra­ tions that are already fighting back against the provo­ cation of the reactionary neoliberal gatherings.

We have to walk on the path of strikes, occupations, massive demonstrations, assemblies in our neigh­ borhoods, schools or workplaces. Working men and women, foreign and domestic, along with the unem­ ployed and the youth, we must all fight for our right to decide on our own and to rule ourselves.

The lesson given may be bitter, but it is also valu­ able: no electoral expectation and no government, in the framework of the system, will save us. It is only ourselves, though the unity of our action and through the workers’ independence, we that we will achieve everything.

• No new austerity measures, no new agreement, no negotiations • Reduction of working hours, along with raises in wages and pensions nor be “stolen,” nor degenerate into a mere negotiation paper.

The class front, which struggled in fa­ vor of NO, should reject any new agree­ ment and any new measures. It must demand salary increases and collective working contracts. It must impose a break with the IMF and the EU. It must demand nationalization of the banks and big corporations, under workers’ control, as the only solution against the banks’ extortions and the bosses’ sabo­ tage.

It must disarm the police, which even under the Syriza government, protect­ ed the YES demonstrations and sup­ pressed the NO demonstrations. It must completely crack the nazis of Golden • Stop paying off the debt and fully cancel it • Expropriation of banks and big enterprises, with no compensation for capitalists, and operation under workers control • Self-management of closing factories and enter­ prises • Disengagement from the euro and the EU, for an anticapitalist internationalist perspective • For the self-organization, the government and the power of the working people n T streets, so as to confront the reactionary, he next few days should find us in the pro-capitalist gatherings like “We stay in Eu­ rope,” and also so as to ensure that there is real rupture [with the EU], and that the referendum will not be just a negotiating maneuver of Tsip­ ras and the leadership of SYRIZA. … Our NO to the proposals of the troika is in no way a vote of confidence to the government of SYRIZA–ANEL. Besides, their own proposals, the text of the 47 pages and the amendments made afterwards, are also totally unacceptable and represent a new memorandum, maybe a little bit more mild, but including new cuts and privatizations. We will say NO to these propos­ als as well, with our struggles.

On Sunday, July 5 we vote NO.

NO: so as to open the rift, and not to begin a new round of negotiations NO: in the streets and not only in the ballot NO: to this and to every agreement NO: overall to the euro-zone, the EU and the IMF, and not just to their proposals NO: to the Troika, but also to any other ad­ ministrator of the same system.

— OKDE-Spartacos Excerpts from June 28 statement Dawn, which is trying to exploit a part of the NO movement, a NO that they sup­ ported with false pretenses, for political survival purposes. We do not have the slightest illusion that the Syriza-ANEL government will pursue such measures. We are confident that the power of the workers can achieve them.

The working class showed indeed its power against the alliance of the main parties of capital, against the bosses’ terrorism, the bureaucracy and the mechanisms of the “deep” state. With massive and tenacious struggles and long-term strikes, we must enlarge the gap that has opened inside the stabil­ ity of the system and never let it close again.

In this battle, the role of a strong anticapitalist left, independent of reform­ ism and the government, is crucial. n SOCIALIST ACTION JULY 2015 7

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website: http://socialistaction.ca Today, Trudeau pledges to re­ tain (with minor reforms) the appointed and highly corrupt Senate, to build more pipelines, and to support “free” trade deals that kill good full-time jobs.

Trudeau Liberals favour tax cuts to the private sector to spur the economy. They sent Canadian soldiers to Iraq. They voted for Bill C-51, the so-called Anti-Terrorism Law. So it seems unlikely that Trudeau can get very far with his claim that he als. But it is up to the ranks of labour and the party membership to push the NDP towards bigger and bolder change-seeking—like demanding na­