A general strike which mobilised two million workers brought Greece to a standstill on 24 February as the Greek working class moved into battle against the public spending cuts, wage freeze and other austerity measures by the “social-democratic” PASOK government.
The strike led to the cancellation of all flights in and out of the country and the closure of countless public and private sector workplaces.
Strikers who joined the mass demonstrations chanted slogans with clear anti-capitalist implications, demanding that the country's bosses and rich should pay for the crisis they created rather than forcing workers to pay through tax-hikes and wage-cuts.
A statement produced by civil service worker-activists said that “the measures included in the stability and development plan are unfair and antisocial and will have negative effects on our salary, and our working and security rights instead of leading us out of the crisis.” It went on to assert, “we will not pay for their crisis. The ones who should pay are the wealthy, the banks, the multinational companies, and the tax-defaulters.”
Strikes have also taken place in Portugal and Spain recently against similar measures, and as Britain's workers – particularly in sectors like education and health – begin to move in response to a series of government cuts, 2010 can and should become a year of Europe-wide resistance to capitalist austerity.