Cleaners escalate protest actions & call for public support

English translation of the protesting cleaners' announcement by @inflammatory_ 

Bold & capital letters as seen at the original text

Cleaners staying overnight in a tent outside the Finance Ministry protesting layoffs & austerity measures
pic via @dromografos

REDUNDANT CLEANERS OF THE FINANCE MINISTRY

We are 595 female cleaners that have been working for many years at the Finance Ministry. Since September 18, 2013 we've been under the labour reserve scheme* and on May 18, 2014 we are losing our jobs, WE ARE GETTING SACKED.

We are all WOMEN, the gender discrimination is evident, most of us are over 50 years old and very close to retirement but will NEVER MANAGE TO GET a pension. Many of us are single parents and we've been providing this income for our family. 

The bailout policies compromise our right to work and live. The Greek unemployment overall at the moment is 27% and 62.8% specifically for women.

WE DON'T HAVE ANY HOPE TO FIND A JOB  

(WE HAVE) NO RIGHT FOR HEALTH CARE

Until 2005 we've been engaged under a "contract for service". Following a EU legislation and a fine for Greece, our contracts switched to "open-ended". The government is dismissing us to reduce the deficit, as it says. The truth is that we cost to the Greek state much less than the private cleaning services they are using now instead. For the Greek government and the Troika we are numbers, not humans.

For 8 months -since September 18- we 've been protesting every day outside the Finance Ministry. It has been an immense struggle that faced violence & clampdown by the Greek government. 

They thought we would make ourselves easy target and weak link especially because we are women at the bottom of the working class. However we fight on a daily basis along with thousands of other laid off people, against the measures of the Greek government and the Troika that destroy our lives and lead us to utter misery.

We continue our struggle:

• We stage a sit-in protest from today (May 7, 2014) outside the Finance Ministry
• We won't stop until we get justice
• We demand the right to work, social security & pension
• We fight with other workers altogether to abolish these policies that bring us to poverty 
• We demand the obvious: a life of dignity through our humble job

We are calling for solidarity with our sit-in protest

We can make it altogether 

* under the labour reserve scheme they get 75% of their salary for 8 months and then they get sacked for good

Golden Dawn's controversial video on prime minister's aide Baltakos, raises questions

by @inflammatory_

Government general secretary & prime minister’s close aide Takis Baltakos was secretly filmed describing to Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris the politics behind the clampdown on the party following the murder of Pavlos Fyssas. The transcripts release, forced Baltakos to resign and triggered drama in the corridors of the parliament as his son stormed inside the Golden Dawners’ office and attacked 3 lawmakers who allegedly failed to respond swiftly because -based on looks- they considered he was "one of them".

The video subtitled  by @kalergisK shows a friendly chat between the two men and Baltakos revealing that the allegations lacked sufficient evidence whilst the crackdown was an effort to tackle the switch of New Democracy voters to Golden Dawn. Frankly this is not news, but an old hot topic of analysis across alternative media sources back in September. However when it's allegedly admitted by a government official who is secretly recorded by a lawmaker, then the story enters a new chapter and raises a few questions: 

1. The video material appears to be legit but it's edited and 3 bits appear to be deleted (1:42' - 2:01' -2:28'). Was there any juicy info missed? If yes how would that affect the story?
2. If the video was recorded months ago why did Golden Dawn choose now to release it? 
3. Since Golden Dawn engages with such practices, there is room for assumptions about other video or audio materials available. In case thery actually are, how could these shape further developments ahead of elections and party members' trial? Should other public figures start worrying? Would this mark the beginning of a bluffing game or blackmailing and secret negotiations?
4. What lies ahead for a governemnt and above all for the people it is supposed to serve amid allegations of political interference at justice? 
5. The boundary between the far-right and the center right has become porous. For example the views and background of New Democracy's Kranidiotis, Voridis, Georgiadis or Plevris -to name a few- give strong evidence although they have made numerous efforts to play it down. Samaras also expelled Sotiris Hatzigakis for raising the issue back in 2011. Baltakos would bear even greater responsibility as the government's general secretary. Is this video a hint of collusion between people of New Democracy and Golden Dawn?

Video transcript in English can be found here 

Head of OLME announces a 24h strike for the 1st day of university entrance exams

Edited by @inflammatory_

Following the board members meeting, head of OLME (Greek Federation of Secondary Education State School Teachers) Nikos Papachristos, spoke to the media saying: 

" The board members of OLME call for a 24-hour strike on Friday 17th May, the first day of national exams and propose to ELME regional unions a 5-day strike from 20th until 24th of May, in protest over the transfer of 4,000 permanent teachers & layoffs of 10,000 supply colleagues. We denote the Ministry of Education still has the option to do what needs to be done, to withdraw the presidential decree for the mandatory transferring of teachers, that would give us the chance to make one step back so that thousands of students manage to avoid the hassle. It was the ministry's disgraceful attitude that sparked the decision for strike action, by bringing on board this plan and at this time in an irreconcilable manner. All labor union movements back this decision except PAME* "

OKANA running low on methadone amid lack of funds

The Greek Organisation Against Drugs (OKANA) faces the risk of running out of methadone, due to delays in deliveries by the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research & Technology (IFET). According to news website tvxs.gr  the medicine's reserves can hardly last for a week. However even a 10-day supply delay could have a severe knock-on effect on patients receiving substance abuse treatment. 

OKANA chief, Meni Malliori confirmed that extra orders of methadone should be delivered after May 20, but there will be efforts to secure an emergency supply to cover one month's needs.

@inflammatory_

Message from the 3 anarchists behind bars arrested for bank robberies

Just a few words behind bars, held hostage at a detention facility, to demonstrate our aims & intentions so as to clear the air on the latest developments.

As anarchists we consider the choice of bank robbing to be a conscious choice to resist. The purpose of our action was not to build financial wealth for us. The attack against the “pantheons of capitalism” falls into our broader revolutionary activity.

As for the torturing we got by the oppressive police forces, we don’t want that to become a reference point of victimization. We didn't expect anything less from the foes of freedom. We shouldn't forget how many people have been battered in police departments and their cells. Let these traces of torture become another trigger for rage to turn into action.

Opposed to the established representatives of justice, our stance will be irreconcilable and uncompromising.

WE ARE NOT COOPERATING – WE ARE NOT APOLOGIZING

LONG LIVE ANARCHY

The anarchists

Nikos Romanos

Andreas-Dimitris Bourzoukos

Yiannis Michailidis

PS: a detailed analysis will follow from the four of us upon our case

Translated by @inflammatory_ The original text can be found here

Government twists Syriza MP statement smearing him as an advocate of terrorism

Syriza MP Vangelis Diamantopoulos is expected to file a lawsuit against those responsible for twisting his words around on a statement he made last Wednesday during a public event in Kastoria. Government's spokesman Simos Kedikoglou accused the MP for putting "The Mall" on spot four days before the blast, calling people "to take up arms" and released a video from the MP's press conference as an evidence.

The anarchist -as presented- and advocate of terrorism Vangelis Diamantopoulos, who is still a Syriza MP even now, put "The Mall" on spot in his speech four days before the terrorist act, calling openly his comrades to take up arms. Following that, we are expecting immediate juridical intervention (...) Diamantopoulos should make clear his affiliation with lawlessness and terrorism.

Syriza condemned New Democracy for deliberately releasing a video with selected bits from Diamantopoulos speech aiming to distort the broader sense made out of his statement. The party's spokesman Panos Skourletis, sent a letter to the National Radio & TV Council asking for investigation upon the broadcasting of the edited video by some mainstream media outlets, although the raw footagewas also available to them.

Check below for the full statement of Vangelis Diamantopoulos

Second day of the nationwide general strike in Greece 20 October 2011

The death of a demonstrator from cardiac arrest overshadowed the 2nd day of nationwide strikes that were as popular as yesterday 19th of October. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people gathered in Syntagma square, opposite the Greek parliament, to demonstrate peacefully although clashes broke out and police raid took place. 

Thousands of Communist-backed union protesters (PAME), who had vowed to encircle parliament, had gathered in Amalias avenue from early in the morning, in order to prevent politicians from accessing the building for the vote on the new austerity package. More protesters kept coming down to Syntagma square and the area was already packed by 12:00pm - earlier than yesterday. People from the two major trade union bodies GSEE & ADEDY, left wing groups and parties along with antiauthoritarians flooded the streets around the area.