#rbnews weekly bulletin 22-28 June 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews weekly bulletin 25-31 May 2013

Prepared by the #rbnews international team, translated by @IrateGreek

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews weekly bulletin 18-24 May 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews weekly bulletin 11-17 May 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

Update on the teachers' strike and civil mobilization - 16 May 2013

The Athens Students' Association protests in front of the Titania hotel,
where the Teachers' Union representatives are holding their meeting.

The issue of secondary school teachers going on strike during the national university entry examinations took a new turn last night as the conference of heads of regional teacher unions (ELME) seemed to orient itself towards suspending the strike, despite the overwhelming vote in favour of the strike by teachers' general assemblies one day earlier.

Update on the teachers' strike and civil mobilization - 15 May 2013

Posted by @IrateGreek

Flyer prepared by the Petroupoli Parents'
Union, demanding free public education for all

Regional teachers' unions (ELME) voted yesterday on the proposal to strike put forward by the Federation of Secondary Education Public School Teachers (OLME) to stage a strike on the first day of the national university entry examinations on 17 May and then to continue with a five-day strike on 20-24 May. The Communist-affiliated labour union PAME came up with a counter-proposal to hold a strike on 16-17 May only.

Participation was very high nationwide in the ELME assemblies, which voted massively in favour of the strike proposed by OLME, despite an order for civil mobilization of teachers issued preemptively by the government that came in effect today at noon. Under the terms of civil mobilization, teachers who actually go on strike face the risk of losing their jobs, or worse. It remains to be seen if the strike will actually take place or if the vote was merely a gesture of defiance by teachers towards the government.

The demonstration held on Monday evening in Athens against civil mobilization and the vote of the ELME assemblies did however not deter the government, which proceeded today with commandeering all school buildings and asking the police to guard them in order to avoid occupations of school buildings to prevent the exams from taking place. In a statement released today, Amnesty International says that "the use of special government measures to thwart a proposed teachers’ strike in Greece violates the country’s international human rights obligations" and calls the measures "disproportionate and unnecessary."

Update on the teachers' strike and civil mobilization - 14 May 2013

"They told me to wear the uniform"
A teacher protests in front of parliament on 13 May in Syntagma square
Picture by @MakisSinodinos

By @IrateGreek 

Greek secondary education teachers, together with various groups who joined them in solidarity, held a demonstration yesterday in front of parliament to protest the government's decision to issue preemptively a civil mobilization order for 86,000 teachers in order to prevent a possible strike on the first day of the national university entry exams, as proposed by the Federation of Secondary Education Teachers (OLME). The Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, rejected yesterday a request by OLME for temporary suspension of the civil mobilization order, despite the dubious legality and constitutionality of back-to-work legislation issued before a formal decision to go on strike is officially approved by regional unions.

Teachers are the third professional group, after employees of the Athens metro and sailors, to be hit by a civil mobilization order since the current coalition government was elected to power. Trucking contractors and municipal workers's strikes were also broken in this way in 2010 and 2011. Of a total of 11 civil mobilization orders issued in Greece since the fall of the Junta, 5 were issued in the framework of bailout austerity policies.

Guest post: The Greek government denies secondary education teachers the right to strike

By Panagiotis Sotiris [1]

In the past three years Greek society has gone through a series of extremely aggressive austerity measures, under the terms dictated by the EU-IMF-ECB Troika that have led to a severe deterioration of living conditions. It has also been experiencing a constant erosion of democratic rights and basic civil liberties. Part of it is the attempt by the Greek government to practically abolish the right to strike in many sectors. Government representatives have repeatedly insisted that it is time to get rid of the “anomic” forms of protest and struggle that have been the main legacy of post-1974 radicalism.

The latest such example is the decision of A. Samaras, the Greek Prime Minister, to issue “civil mobilization” orders for all secondary education teachers, because OLME, the Secondary Education Teachers Confederation, has announced that it proposes to its member unions to stage a strike during the University Entry Exams beginning May 17. The order issued by the Prime Minister includes references to a potential “important disruption of the social and economic life of the country” and to “grave dangers for public order and the health of candidates taking the university entry exams”, and was issued as a preemptive measure before the strike is even decided by the local secondary education unions on Tuesday May 14.

A timeline of fascist activity in Greece over the past year

On the occasion of the anniversary of the May 2012 elections, in which Greece's neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn entered parliament with 7% of the vote, @galaxyarchis prepared a timeline of the most important events related to the rise of fascism in modern Greece.

#rbnews weekly bulletin 04-10 May 2013

Prepared by the #rbnews international team, translated by @IrateGreek

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

Alex the lazy Greek

By @galaxyarchis, translated by @IrateGreek

The Omikron Project team, who seek to break, through video spots and ads, the various European stereotypes about Greeks and Greece in the context of the financial crisis, completed their second cartoon. The video's protagonist is Alex, a Greek worker whom many international media describe as lazy, and who therefore is perceived as deserving the punishment of austerity imposed upon him by the European Union.

You can activate subtitles in multiple languages in the video above. 

The 2013 May Day marches in Greece covered by the #rbnews community

#rbnews international news bulletin 09-15 February 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews international show - 20 October 2012

On the #rbnews international weekly show on 20 October 2012, @IrateGreek and @tsimitakis discussed the news of the week with SYRIZA's chief economist Yiannis Milios. Topics include the Israeli boarding of the Estelle, which was sailing to Gaza, the 18 October general strike and EU summit, and the links between Golden Dawn and the police,which were exposed in international media. You can listen to the podcast after the jump.

Was the bailout of Greece legal?

Edited by Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law at King’s College London, for USI

As the European political crisis becomes ever more intense and the economic crisis ever more acute, there is a third crisis yet to unfold.  This is the crisis of legality now engulfing the EU, an entity that seems to be free to do what it likes and to ignore the legal foundations on which it is supposed to be built.

The EU, its institutions and its representatives are required to act with legal authority and within the scope of legal powers.   To this end, the post–Lisbon treaty is full of clearly expressed principles and obligations, the EU apparently founded on the values of ‘human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights’.

Greece: the assault on labour

Edited by Andrew Brady for USi

The labour movement in Europe faces its most important battle arguably since its creation.  It’s not sensationalist to make such a statement. There is a global assault on organised labour. The epicentre of an economic agenda that is getting rolled-out on the  continent of Europe is Greece.

For some this agenda is abundantly clear but for the vast majority, its underlying ideology remains obscured. The reason being is that there has been a deliberate and orchestrated ‘fog of war’ perpetuated by politicians, multi-national firms and media outlets.

LIVE BLOG on May Day 2012 in Greece

By @inflammatory_ 

15:50 there seems to be no trouble in the area of Exarchia at the moment
15:05 Riot police in Exarcheia opposite protesters' barricades of trash bins in the middle of the street

pic by @_giant_

pic by @makissinodinos

Further anti-austerity protests 19 February 2012 (LIVE BLOG)

By @inflammatory_

Approximately 3000 people gathered in front of the parliament this morning to protest against austerity, chanting slogans and singing the national anthem. The demo was called by the two major trade union bodies of Greece, GSEE and ADEDY, that reportedly have plans for a third general strike in a row, on top of a series of events coordinated with unions and artists, that will culminate on February 29th, the European day of action. 
A new demo is scheduled this afternoon in Syntagma sq. from left wing groups, SYRIZA trade unionists' network, primary unions, motorcyclists and Mikis Theodorakis movement. Follow #19fgr and #rbnews hashtags for twitter updates. This post will be updated with pics and info.

21:06 A RECAP OF THE EVENING DEMO' S MAIN HIGHLIGHTS

Demonstrators outside the parliament 19/2/2012 by Alexia B. on facebook

• 60 preventive detentions made by police in central Athens (Ermou St. Exarcheia & Monastiraki) prior to the demo.
• People descended on Syntagma sq. across the street from Parliament, remaining peacefully until 19:40, when riot police tactics aimed -in an obvious manner- at dispersing the crowd.
• To this end, pepper spray and stun grenade use was made, 3 people were detained and one man suffered injuries when hit by riot policeman on the head.
• Journalists were reportedly repelled by police for doing their job when covering the demonstration. One of them working for Ant1 TV was detained.

LIVE BLOG on anti-austerity protests: Feb 10-11 & 12

By @inflammatory_ 

FEB 12 TIMELINE

01:00 Recap of the day's main events 

"Greece en rage", might be an accurate description of what happened today.

• Several preventive detentions in Athens took place before even the demo starts. 
• Massive turnout as expected.The crowd was dispersed very early though, around 17:30-18:00 when tensions aroused on the front side of the demo and riot police officers started hurling teargas to repel demonstrators on the lower side of the square.
• The demo was split, but protesters remained en masse in the nearby roads, to avoid clouds of tear gas filling the air...which was literally unbearable. With sheer determination they attempted to get back on the spot but riot squad tactics were aimed at halting the demo. This cat-and-mouse chase kept for 3,5 hours.
• There were reports by journalists of policemen attacking on random people, protesting peacefully.
• Paul Mason, the BBC correspondent was attacked by a bunch of far right protesters as they thought he was German. The worst was prevented thanks to other people's intervention.
• Clashes spread across the city, with banks and retail outlets set on fire. Estimated number of arsoned buildings at 10  45.
• 100 people suffered injuries, while 74 have been arrested and 92 detained.
• In Thessaloniki 28.000 people demonstrated (including PAME members) and clashes broke out between protesters and riot police as well.



Feb 12, 2012 Demonstrators flooding the streets outside the parliament before clashes pic @Jaquou Utopie

LIVE BLOG 24h general strike Feb 7, 2012

By @inflammatory_

14:15 Demonstrators chanting slogans outside the parliament


14:05 Random protesters outside the parliament now, opposite policemen guarding the building amid new austerity talks by greek leaders