Solidarity statement - What happens to you today threatens us tomorrow

Strike is a right to enforce workers' interests - and we have to fight for it across borders

Zurich, 29.07.2012

Dear colleagues, dear families,

with shock we have heard that the Greek police on 20th 7 2012 with brutality attacked you, colleagues on strike in the steel plant of Aspropyrgos. And the new government of Greece has shown its true face, although a lot of people still had hopes in the grand coalition. Our anger runs deep and our thoughts are with you every minute and with your families. Bravely you have fought for 272 days against the dismissal of 120 colleagues and the reduction of your salary. And your decision to continue to fight to increase union power to struggle, to learn from your strike for new challenges - we congratulate you with that. We want you to know we are still at your side in solidarity. During our visit, about a month ago, we have found that also in Switzerland they try to use similar methods to drive the exploitation of the workers to the extremes, for example by extending the working hours with no extra pay. The question of a comprehensive, political and legal right to strike must become an important demand for the international working class. It is our right as a working class, to strike for our rights. They highly praise democracy, only as long as we, inside their ruling system, do not come too close at their profits. What happened to you today threatens us tomorrow. In Spain also the workers, especially the miners, took to the streets in Madrid and threatened the government. Obviously those in power feel threatened, not just the company Elliniki Halyvourgia. The fighting in Spain and Greece have much in common, and the combatants learn from each other, keep up to date of each other's situation. To prevent your courageous struggle of becoming an example, your workplace was attacked brutally. The rulers in Europe and in the world put a harder line against us workers. We are confident that this police operation was conducted with the approval of EU.

Switzerland paid in January 2012 683 million to the IMF, money which serves to uphold the capitalist financial markets. It is used to enforce the ruling interests. Money that was previously extracted from the Swiss working class, by ever sharper exploitation. As long as there is capitalism there will be a world economic and financial crises.

We need a world in which it no longer will be possible for international banks and corporations to call the shots. Only through common solidarity action of the working people, against any nationalist division, can we fight our common enemy, the imperialist world system, and struggle for a society without exploitation and oppression of the working people - genuine socialism.

We wish you much strength and stamina

Only in an international struggle, can working people defeat the rulers!

Workers of the world unite!

With revolutionary greetings and in solidarity

Your MLGS-Marxist-Leninist group Switzerland