Martin Suchanek reports on the aftermath of the austerity vote and how the Greek workers can beat the government

For forty-eight hours the masters of European and global capitalism held their breath. They can breathe again - for the moment at least. The Greek parliament passed the second massive austerity programme – averting a debt default with an inevitable domino effect on Portugal, Spain, even Italy, and on global stock markets and the Euro.

"It's really good news,” rejoiced German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Good news, that is, for the billionaire bondholders, above all for the German and French banks. New credits can now be extended to service old credits. The blood sucking can go on – so they hope.

But it is far from good news for ordinary Greeks - the workers, the small traders, the huge numbers of young unemployed.

An additional €28 billion must be cut from the budgets by 2015 – the equivalent of 12 per cent of GDP. A further €50 billion will come from privatisation of state enterprises. The lower middle class will be hit hard too, with VAT increased from 13 per cent to 23 per cent. There will be 15 per cent wage cuts, an extension of the working week from 37.5 to 40 hours and a reduction of the public sector workforce by 150,000 through non-replacement of retired workers.

In the run up to and during the 48-hour general strike on 28 and 29 June the weakness of the PASOK-government in the context of the growing isolation and erosion of its social base has been revealed. Nevertheless when it came to the final vote 154 out of 155 of PASOK MPs said yes to the bill, securing the government a majority in the 300 strong assembly. The “respectable” right wing bourgeois opposition parties Nea-Dimokratia (NEA) and Democratic Alliance - a split from NEA - abstained, demonstrating that at the end of the day, they don’t actually want to block the measures. Indeed, NEA deputies criticised the government for not privatising enough, whilst they claim that more taxes on business would hamper the Greece economy.

Only the deputies of the left wing parties, SYRIZA (9) and KKE (21) and those of the far-right racist LAOS (15) voted against the bill – itself a sign of the growing polarisation of the Greece society.

Mass support for general strike

The mass support for the general strike also shows the potentially revolutionary resistance in Greece is still alive. The vast majority of the working class followed the call from the trade unions and the Assembly in Syntagma square.

According to the large trade union federations ADEDY (public sector) and GSEE (private sector) more than 80 per cent of the workforce in schools, public offices and hospitals, banks and large companies took part in the strike. Even where smaller unions like PNE, which organises the shipping sector, had not supported the strike the militants of other unions – mainly from PAME – were able to carry it out.

After years of struggle with days of action and one-day general streaks, there is new upsurge of resistance in Greece.

It was the occupation of Syntagma, the central square of the Athens, that give new life and dynamism to a resistance movement, which seemed to be running out of steam after more than two years, with large sections of the working class and even the more determined left wing activists losing hope that they could stop the government.

Syntagma occupation revives hope

The general strike, the mass demonstrations and the square occupations movement have put this hope back on the agenda again. They have not only drawn in hundreds of thousands of “enraged” from the poor, precarious workers and unemployed up to the petit-bourgeois, the lower professions and even some small capitalists. These different classes differ in their interests and perspectives, but what unites them is a sense of desperation and urgency – to be rescued from ruin, now or never.

The occupation of Syntagma square has also re-dynamised the workers’ movement and provided more energy and direction for the general strike. The participation was stronger than in the previous one and the strike itself lasted for two days.

This has deepened the political crisis in the country and shaken the government. Some deputies of the nationalist “populist” PASOK, who are tied to the large trade union federations ADEDY and GSEE, threatened to vote against the measures imposed by the imperialist troika (EU, European Central Bank and IMF).

Strategic weaknesses highlighted

But we also must be clear that the outcome of the two days of action and the 48-hour general strike highlighted not only the tremendous militancy and determination of the masses – it highlighted also the weaknesses of the movement, its crisis of political direction, perspectives and leadership.

The general strike was called and organised by the large, bureaucratically run trade union federations, who are – despite one attack after the other – still politically tied to the ruling PASOK party. The general strike also demonstrated that whilst there is encouraging growth of rank and file unionism and anti-bureaucratic opposition – it is still these large federations and the KKE-led PAME, that alone are able to bring out the millions, indeed the entire organised working class of the country. All talk of going around the unions is clearly ultra-left nonsense. The more militant and left forces have to use the united front to achieve maximum unity in action and at the same time expose the weakness and vacillation of the reformist union leaders.

Whilst the call for a general strike from the Syntagma assembly has also pressured these union leaderships, the last two days also demonstrated the gap between large sections of the organised working class and the” movement of the enraged.” The unions organised their own demonstrations and, moreover, called them for different times. Whilst ADEDY and GSEE collaborated and co-ordinated to some extent with the occupiers, the KKE and PAME refused to do so, because of the strong anti-party and indeed also anti-trade union sentiment of large parts of the squares occupation movement.

Rather than fighting these petit-bourgeois, indeed rightist, prejudices the KKE and PAME preferred to denounce the whole mass movement as “reactionary” before the days of action. This sectarian position of the KKE/PAME, which we have seen time and time again toward other parts of the movements against the government, combined with a heavy dose of Greek nationalism from these “Communists”, will only serve to split and self-isolate these militant unionists and encourage the anti-working class and anti-party prejudices of many of the occupiers.

But the whole development of the mass demonstrations and the attempt to encircle the parliament also showed inherent political weaknesses of the occupation movement. Whilst they represent a real achievement as forums where political organisations, activists, ordinary people can speak out and discuss, it is hampering itself by its anti-political stance and a strong trend of populism amongst the occupiers.

Whilst intervention from the far left have combated this and has led to a considerable decline of the anti-trade union sentiment, the assembly (and many of the local assemblies organised in the estates and smaller towns share this) has also weakened itself by its fetish of rejecting democratic decision-making to organise action (demanding a consensus) and likewise the fetish of “non-violent civil disobedience”.

This means that when it came to the mass demonstration to blockade the parliament no measures of organised protection of were taken against police attacks and provocations though it was clear that the police would attack it at some point to try to ensure that the parliament could meet and vote the cuts.

The authorities on the other hand, had decided to clear Syntagma and the police then tear gassed the demonstrators in order to prevent them from assembling in full to move towards parliament. 5,000 cops forced the unprotected and under equipped mass of the demonstrators back into the side-streets, whilst only several thousands of youth – mainly anarchists and autonomists – were left in a clash with the police which lasted late into the night, with hundreds injured and many arrested.

So the “mass blockade” ended in forcing the masses to become observers, rather than actors on the streets – highlighting once again the lack of a democratically elected, accountable, but also authoritative leadership, which could organise such a blockade and self-defence against the riot police where the brave youth could have been a major organised factor.

Where to go?

But most importantly, if one has a look at the Greek left and the assemblies, one can see the most burning problem is the lack of a perspective for the struggle, a plan of action, a clear idea of who will replace the present government and rip up the cuts agenda imposed by the EU and colluded in by Greek capitalists

The movement is united around what is does not want. It is united around the call to reject the cuts and renounce the national debt.

But in a situation of continuous social decline of a country, of remorseless immiseration of the masses - this is not enough.

Growing polarisation and revolutionary ferment

In such a situation of revolutionary ferment, where the ruling class can resolve the crisis only by a historic onslaught on the people and where millions demonstrate that they don’t want to accept that, just to oppose the government is not enough. The masses on the streets and in the strike movement need an alternative programme to fight for, to make the rich, the oligarchic families dominating Greece capitalism and society for more than a century, pay. It needs to implement a working class programme against the crisis.

This requires addressing the crucial problems facing the movement. The vote in parliament demonstrated clearly that even a mobilisation of almost the entire Greek population will not make it back down, as long as it is limited to 24 or 48 hours. Just as it is clear, that the government will resort to more violent, repressive and undemocratic means to push through its program. In addition, the government threatens the people with terrifying scenarios, if Greece should be forced out of the Euro and to reintroduce the Drachma. Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos said in an interview to the Spanish daily El Mundo:

“Returning to the drachma would mean that on the following day banks would be surrounded by terrified people trying to withdraw their money, the army would have to protect them with tanks because there would not be enough police.”

Such statements should not be light mindedly dismissed. It lifts a corner of the curtain on what the Greek government and ruling class is up to – and what the working class must prepare against. Moreover, the historic crisis of Greek capitalism and the issues at stake also mean that, the ruling class will resort to more repressive forms of rule, if the current parliamentary regime cannot carry through its programme.

Over the last few months not only has the enragement of the Greek people grown apace- with its reflection in the left and the unions – there has also been a growth of the far-right, with their campaign for a nationalist and chauvinist “solution” to the crisis. Over the last months we have seen a rise in brutal attacks on migrant workers and their families by racist and fascist scum. In addition, there is a growing sentiment amongst the “middle classes” and desperate sectors of unemployed, who can be open to demagogic tirades, making “finance” and “foreign” countries, corrupt politicians, but also “migrant” workers and “idle and monopolistic” trade unions, the ones responsible for the crisis hitting the “ordinary” petit-bourgeois so hard.

The Greece left needs to rise to its task!

However, whilst we can see this growing polarisation and whilst we are in period, where the workers movement and the masses are still mobilised against the government, the Greek left, militant unionists, socialists and communists need to come to the head of this movement now.

In order force back the government and it cuts, yet another round of 24, 48 or 72-hour general strikes will not suffice. A vigorous campaign for an indefinite general strike is necessary against all the cuts and every governmental measure to implement it. In short what is needed is what Trotsky called “not an ordinary demonstration, nor a symbolic strike of an hour’s or even 24 hours’ duration, but a war manoeuvre, with the aim of forcing the enemy to submit.” (Once Again Whither France)

It is necessary to campaign for this in the workplaces and mass assemblies as well as to call on the trade union leaderships of ADESY, GSEE and PAME, on the leaders of SYRIZA and the KKE and all other left wing and working class organisation, to join their forces to organise such a general strike.

Such a strike should be based on strike committees, elected in all the workplaces and offices. It should be backed by the assemblies in Syntagma and in the workers neighbourhoods and smaller towns. And, crucially, the workplace and strike committees and assemblies should elect delegates on a local, regional and national level to organise and lead such a movement in democratic, but also decisive way.

In order to so, one has to politically argue against the anti-working class and petit-bourgeois prejudices in the squares, of those who do not want to involve left wing parties or mass trade unions or who do not want to elect and co-ordinate the movements and put in place a national leadership since this would “impose” its will on the local committees from above.

Such arguments – not only raised by petit-bourgeois newcomers, but also by a large number of anarchists, libertarians and autonomists – have to be openly countered and rejected. Without a national co-ordination – based on mass assemblies and accountable delegates – the movement will not be able to defeat and paralyse a highly centralised enemy, the capitalists, their government and repressive apparatus.

Likewise, the movement needs organs of self-defence which are politically led by such bodies.
A general strike based on such organs will inevitably raise the question, who rules in Greece, which class imposes its programme on society – be it the Greece capitalists and the imperialist or the workers in alliance with the peasants, the poor and urban small petit-bourgeoisie.

But in order to do so, the working class needs to gain leadership of the popular masses. It needs a program for a workers government based on the organs of the mass strike – incipient forms of workers councils and a militia.

Such a workers government will and must be bridge to a socialist transformation of Greece society and, indeed, a spark for the social revolution across Europe.

Its main, immediate tasks will be: cancellation of the national debt and repeal of all the cuts packages imposed by government, EU, IMF etc. It will nationalise without compensation the banks and finance institutions, it will expropriate the speculators and super-rich and reorganise the finance sector into single national bank under workers control; it will expropriate without compensation the large imperialist companies and large scale Greece capital and re-organise them according to an emergency program to bring millions back into work and to introduce decent services under workers and consumers control; it will introduce price watch committees against inflation and speculation and it will chance the ; it will cut the working hour to 35 hours to bring others into work and introduce a minimum wage.

Such a government will disband all the repressive police, it will replace the standing army with an armed militia and the bureaucratic state apparatus - in short, it will break up, the might of the bourgeois state and replace with workers and popular councils.

Revolutionary party

But in order to win the masses in the occupied squares and the rank and file of the working class in the unions to such a program, we need a political party, determined to carry out the socialist revolution.

The trade union leaderships and the reformist parties KKE and SYRIZA are tied ultimately to the capitalist system. For decades, they have argued for a “reform” of Greece capitalism. Even now, deputies of SYRIZA hope, that a “different government policy” would be possible under the very same capitalist system. The KKE hopes that Greece would regain its “national independence”, if it were to re-introduce the Drachma.

But this is a utopia, if the property relations remain untouched, if Greece continues to be capitalist. In such a situation the introduction of the Drachma would led to a devaluation of the national currency, which might ease debts and increase exports – but it would also devalue the saving of the workers and middle classes and it would create an enormous pressure to massive price raises and inflation – making the workers and poor pay for the crisis in different way only.

Also anarchism and autonomism – whilst often attracting very militant sectors of youth, unemployed and “precarious” workers – have no real answer . They have to break form their anti-partyism, if they do not want to become a disorganising obstacle to the problems of working class leadership.

The large far left in Greece – often of a Trotskyist or Maoist origin – has a tremendous responsibility in such a situation. Many of its organisations declare the need for a revolutionary overthrow of the government. A number of them raise correct and, in themselves, important transitional demands like the nationalisation of large scale capital under workers control.

But they lack a consistent program for working class power; an action program and they also lack the initiative to fight for revolutionary unity based on such a programme.

Currently, the left wing alliance Antarsya (Front of the Greece Anti-capitalist Left), which consists of 10 different organisation, is facing conflict within its ranks. The largest organisation in it (NAR, emerging originally from the youth of the KKE who split in 1990 after KKE joined a government with the right-conservative NEA) along with SEK, the section of the IST argue, that Antarsya should remain nothing more than an alliance.

Others like OKDE-Spartacos (Section of the Fourth International) argue, that it should transform itself into a party. Similar discussions are taking place in the left wing of SYRIZA.

Whilst we do not agree with the programmatic basis argued by OKDE for such a party, we agree with them that Antarsya and all those willing to address the crisis of leadership in Greece have to argue and fight for more than just a “alliance” of the “anti-capitalist left”. If such alliances are not transformed into a revolutionary party on a common programme and discipline to intervene and fight for leadership in revolutionary period – than the existing differences between them will not lessen, but be highlighted in such period. After all, a “Front of the Greek Anti-capitalist Left” could have played a useful role in order to assemble forces for a new anti-capitalist and ultimately revolutionary party in Greece. Now it has to go forward and address the urgent task of the day, facing working class militants, communists and socialists in Greece today – the formation of genuine revolutionary workers party which can bury crisis ridden capitalism.