Over the
last two months, a plague has struck the Greek government - a mass movement
of millions of workers and students.
It’s symptoms included a 24 hour strike by public sector workers,
a three hour strike by private sector workers, as well as occupations
of over 90% of Greek universities by students.
It is believed to be linked to the recent outbreak of protests in France
against their government’s attempt to attack young workers’
rights. Like in France, this movement took the government by surprise
and opened the floodgates of anger at the right wing government of New
Democracy.
The spark that began this movement was a proposal by the government
to force universities to seek private funding and to allow for-profit
universities. Included in the same Bill are measures to stop the free
book scheme, and to expel students not finishing school within two years
of the normal duration.
The government was forced to postpone the Bill after campaigning by
students and teachers from all levels of education as well as the broader
workers’ movement. The occupations of universities are now winding
down for the summer holidays, with plans to restart the new term with
a bang.
Root of the anger
The huge anger
shown towards the government has been built up by years of attacks on
education and the fact that Greece has the lowest education budget in
the EU and the highest unemployment among university graduates.
In addition, Greek students can’t get university accommodation
or grants and so are forced to work in term time making it almost impossible
to finish courses on time. Then if they can get a job when they graduate,
they are still faced with a future of low pay and the race to the bottom.
A crucial development for the students was building links with their
parents - the Greek working class who have to foot the bill for college
books etc. Xekinima, our sister party in Greece, encouraged this solidarity,
calling for a 24 hour general strike for 22 June in support of the students.
This demand gathered momentum, quickly getting the support of activists,
then the colleges and finally forcing the union confederations to call
strikes on 22 June.
These strikes and students’ occupations forced a series of government
retreats. First they postponed the Bill until after summer. When this
proved insufficient, they promised more concessions but still insisted
on pushing universities down the road of privatisation. This deal was
rightly rejected, with students and workers demanding a complete withdrawal
of the Bill.
What is needed now is a well worked out plan to continue the struggle
after the summer break. Already primary school teachers are preparing
a five day strike over pay and the staffing of schools. All education
workers, students and trade union confederations should use this time
to plan for the autumn, and to counter the government’s propaganda
in the political field.
International youth revolt
At the same time
as the youth of Greece prepare for conflict in the autumn, those in
France are reflecting on their recent struggles, and the youth of Chile
have also been involved in a serious battle for decent education (see
here). This destroys the myth that young people have been bought
off.
The reality is that throughout the world, young people and workers are
getting fed up with war, low pay, under-funding of public services,
privatisation and other problems caused by profit being put before people’s
needs. In order to challenge the right wing and the rule of profit,
we must build a socialist alternative where people come before profit.
