On October, even though the annually steel production almost doubled last year, the management of Greek Steelworks SA decided to cut down salaries and dismiss many workers using the crisis as an excuse. «On the 17th of October, our boss was clear: 5 hours a day and 40% salary reduction». Two days later, after a general assembly of 280 attendees the workers' response was «If you proceed, we will go on ...

Dear fellow-workers, once more we are witnessing a huge solidarity wave to our struggle that begun on 30/10. On that day, Greek Steelworks SA started the unjustified lay offs in an effort to terrorize us and force us to accept a modification of the collective wage agreement ruling an average  wage reduction of 40%, a reduction of working hours to 5 per day together with the introduction of shift work. The l ...

On the 17th of October, our boss was clear : 5 hours a day and 40% salary reduction. Two days later, after a general assembly of 280 attendees the workers' response was "If you proceed, we will go on strike". On the 31st of October and only 5 minutes before 3 in the afternoon, the first dismissal was delivered to a workers' house; followed by another 18 in the same evening. Within one hour of the first dism ...

A Europe-wide austerity drive can only be defeated if UK nurses join forces with Portuguese teachers and Greek bus drivers. Maria is a softly spoken teacher, but she's clearly furious. As far as she is concerned, she is being mugged by the economic and political elite. "I think they are stealing from us," she tells me. "It's theft." Maria Juan spoke to me in the centre of Lisbon as thousands of striking wor ...

The 400 workers of the “GREEK STEELWORKS” (Helliniki Halivourgia) industry, are on strike, united as one fist, for more than three weeks. And they continue! They do not move back, they have chosen the path of honor and dignity, to defend the bread and the future of their children. They do not return to work, in fire and iron, for 500€. They demand, their 34 colleagues, who were laid off, to return to work. ...

By Occupied London. On Sunday, trade unionists of GENOP-DEI, the union of the Public Power Corporation, occupied the building issuing the electricity disconnection orders for households that have failed to pay their bills. As of a few weeks ago, the latest bills now include the latest property tax imposed by the government, typically including hundreds of euros per property, making payment for thousands a n ...

On Sunday 20 of November, public-transport workers of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague went on a 24-hour strike. The government decided to reduce the funding of public transport by 40%. More than half of the employes currently working in pubic transport will be laid off. At the same time, the service will be more expensive for the citizens and their quality dramatically worsen. In Amsterdam, it is estimat ...

The past two years the Greek population is witnessing the harshest austerity measures since the introduction of the Euro. Greece became the ‘black sheep’-member of the European Union and had to be punished hard. In 2010 the first austerity package was imposed by the Greek government under the commands of the Troika (the IMF, the EU and the ECB). As a result, last month unemployment reached 18% and 40% among ...

June 29 2011: The country where democracy was founded now is under dictatorship. More than 500 injured and thousands with breathing problems. Police attacked first aid camp and doctors.           ...