Video: Greek workers can defeat austerity, the troika and the vampire bondholders!

Here is a video of a speech I made in the parliament last night on the struggle of the Greek working class against austerity which saw a 48-hour public sector strike over the weekend. The bankers’ coalition government this weekend voted through further austerity measures to satisfy the troika and the bondholders. The government’s support stands at only 30%. This is a simple case of blackmail by refusing to give the Greek government their second bailout until they force through these measures. These included a 22% cut to the minimum wage to €600 per month, the sacking of 15,000 public service workers and further privitisation measures.

Austerity has driven the Greek economy and its people into the ground. The economy shrunk by 7% in the final quarter of 2011, and by 5.5% in the quarter before that. Unemployment stands at 20% and youth unemployment stands at closer to 50%. It is obvious that austerity has failed in Greece and will continue to fail across Europe. Living standards and public services are being sacrificed all across Europe to satisfy the demands of the bondholders. The battle the Greek workers face is the same battle that is faced by Irish, Spanish and Portugeusse workers.

A united fightback by workers across Europe is needed to defeat austerity. An indefinite general strike, along with work places occupations should be called immediately in Greece to defeat the troika, the bondholders and the banker’ government. This should be accompanied by similar actions by workers across Europe to defeat austerity and the capitalist policies of the E.U