Greek gov’t kneels to capitalist piracy

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VOL. 33, NO. 8, AUGUST 2015 WWW.SOCIALISTACTION.ORG U.S. / CANADA $1 The new $93 billion (86 billion euros) economic bailout deal in Greece is a shameless act of international capital­ ist piracy. The July 13 proposal—ap­ proved by the Greek parliament two days later—wielded cuts to pensions, including special aid to the poorest; a hike in taxes on food and other goods and services; a “liberalizing” of the la­ bor market (that is, voiding labor pro­ tections and job security); and perhaps the most odious, the privatization of Greek public institutions, with the pro­ ceeds (50 billion euros) to be hijacked off to Luxemburg banks, out of reach of the Greek people.

And, that was only the beginning. On July 22, the Greek parliament, by a 23063 vote, approved a second set of cuts demanded by international creditors.

A quickly organized government ref­ erendum on July 5 of an earlier version of the “memorandum” of agreement re­ sulted in a heroic vote of 61% of Greek voters who said “NO!” to more misery by the European banks. That historic “no” was turned into a “yes” by a gov­ ernment unwilling to fight. The Syriza government agreed to an even more punishing bailout than the memoran­ dum the Greek people had rejected. One TV commentator quipped sarcasti­ cally when news of the deal emerged, “Why not auction off the Parthenon?”

Indeed. The middle-class Syriza lead­ ership, headed by Prime Minister Alex­ is Tspiras, calculated that, while prom­ ising to not to leave the EU (“Grexit”), they could outwit and shame the bil­ lionaire leaders of European capital and bend them to the will of the Greek people. But, the bloodsuckers who rule Europe would have none of it and im­ posed their will on the long-suffering Greek masses.

Despite the continued personal popu­ larity of Tspiras, disbelief at the results of patient negotiations turned to anger at what is now the third and most pun­ ishing bailout for Greece in five years.

On July 15 unions called for a one-day general strike and demonstration against the memorandum. The action was called mainly by ADEDY, a union representing public workers who are facing layoffs and wage cuts under the terms of the agreement. The march was led by women cleaners and hos­ (Above) Athens protest by anticapitalist coalition ANTARSYA.

pital workers, followed by transit workers who had shut down trains that morning. Street protests that day amounted to about 15,000 memoran­ dum opponents.

That evening some 15 protesters were arrested, many of whom had been savagely attacked by police in front of the parliament building. The arrested demonstrators included two members of OKDE-Spartacos, supporters of the Fourth International and co-thinkers of Socialist Action in the United States. Protesters say that the previous gov­ ernment had removed confinement (continued on page 10, in “Is the Sanders campaign a ‘new movement’?”)

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Keith Christensen Severson said. “I was actually out of the country and taking an American history class when I read [Farrell Dobbs’s book] ‘Teamster Rebellion.’ That’s when I saw a picture of my uncle Jack and learned about it.”

Descendants of 1934 strikers listening to the speak­ ers included Linnea Sommer. Last year, she told the Minneapolis Labor Review: “My grandfather, Chester Johnson, was in the Socialist Workers Party and was involved in the strike. … I know it broke the back of the Citizens Alliance and made Minneapolis a union town.”

Linda Leighton, granddaughter of 1934 strike leader Vincent (Ray) Dunne, is an SEIU shop steward: “Final­ ly, we have an actual marker that will commemorate the strike.”

Cherene Horazuk, granddaughter of 1934 striker Harry Horazuk and president of AFSCME Local 3800, was one of the feaured speakers at the July 19 event. She held a sign with a photo of her grandfather, who was age 17 at the time of the strike.

Another featured speaker was Thomas Keegel, gen­

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INSIDE SOCIALIST

Historic 1934 strike — 2 Police “justice” — 3 Climate / Film — 4

Bernie Sanders — 5 Greek defeat — 6 Canada news —11 Lessons of the defeat in Greece See page 6

Whose lives matter? See page 12