Cypriot people demonstrated against ECB’s neocolonial policies
On Wednesday thousands of people responded to the call issued by the Platform of Trade Union and Social organisations “Society reacts and asserts” to voice their anger, but also their resolve to continue mass organised struggles against the policies of the directorate and ruling circles of Brussels. Outside the European Central Bank Governing Council’s session in Nicosia workers, unemployed, teachers and students, farmers, pensioners and many others denounced the vicious Memoranda policies serving capital’s interests. The Cypriot people are resisting, demanding and fighting for growth, jobs and progress, an end to the dismantling of the welfare state, privatisations and the selling off of public wealth, the respect of labour relations, collective agreements and working people’s rights and gains.
Three mass marches were organised that later came together at the big rally organised by the Platform of 18 trade unions and social organisations. The class-based trade union of the Pancyprian Federation of Labour PEO, the biggest trade union federation in our country, has played the pivotal and decisive role in the forging of a broad front of various trade unions and social movements around specific goals and based on a mutually agreed framework.
Among the slogans shouted were: “Enough of austerity – we demand dignity”, “Money for education and health – not for the bankers and the plutocracy”, “Students – workers, one voice, one fist”, “Forward people, do not yield – the only path is resistance and struggle”, “Cyprus, Greece, Spain – the plutocracy must pay for the crisis”, “Capitalism is not our future”.
Present at the rally were G. Mavrikios General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions WFTU, the GUE MEP Fabio di Masi on behalf of the Blockoccupy movement, leading officials from the All-Workers Militant Front PAME of Greece, General Confederation of Greek Workers GSEE, National Federation of Workers in the Chemical Industry of France, Left Bloc section of the Trade Union Federation of Austria, Unione Sindacale di Base USB of Italy, Regional Energy Trade Unions Network of South Eastern Europe —RETUN SEE, Panhellenic Federation of Energy. Solidarity messages were also received from other unions and movements in Europe.
The World Federation of Trade Unions WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos expressed WFTU’s militant class solidarity with the working class and people of Cyprus who are struggling – as he said – for their rights and a better future. “We are here to denounce the Troika’s policies, the policies of the ECB, the European Union, the IMF, which bring suffering, problems, unemployment, privatizations, poverty, unemployment, misery and lead dignified workers to poverty and begging. We are here today to underline that the working class in Europe and around the world will keep on fighting for our rights, so that workers will know they will have a collective agreement, that the agreement will be implemented and that workers will have a specific working time, that they will know that the working people’s residences will not be foreclosed and auctioned. We are here struggling for all people to have social insurance, a pension and the right to dignity, for the people’s present and future, to ensure conditions for people to live as human beings and not as animals”, the WFTU General Secretary declared.
The General Secretary of PEO Pambis Kyritsis stressed that the “restructuring” of the European financial sector, which collapsed due to the unrestrained greed of financial capital for easy gain and the drive for maximization of profit, is being shouldered by the people. That is to say, the working people, whose rights are being abolished and are at the mercy of the bosses immunity, whilst pensioners and the unemployed are condemned to social exclusion, farmers are being wiped out, along with the SME’s, whilst young people’s dreams are being shattered.
He pointed out that this economic and social policy of the EU ruling circles has been imposed in Cyprus through blatant blackmail and threats. The ECB has played a leading role in these efforts. Unfortunately our own government, the GS of PEO pointed out, was also an accomplice, since it does not miss an opportunity to also declare that even though a Memorandum might not have been imposed on us, it would implement these policies because it considers the Memorandum as its own ideological Manifesto. The General Secretary of PEO called upon the people not to yield and submit, not to surrender to all that is being imposed on us. In any case, he said, things will definitely get much worse for the workers and the people.
