Greece : Grassroots Labour Struggles in a Crisis-Ridden Country

The present endeavour is oriented in theorising labour struggles in Greece during the past five years from the standpoint of the oppressed with the aim to provide useful theoretical tools for militants to track ways forward. The overall argument of the essay is that the crisis of capital in the country has deepened the crisis of conventional unionism and has reconstructed the forces of labour and their resistance in the direction of a stronger interrelation, with wider social movements and the needs and aspirations of the oppressed classes. The first part of the essay gives a picture of the radical changes in the reproduction of labour in Greece during these five years of austerity and crisis, whereas the second part provides a background analysis of the crisis of conventional unionism in the country. The third part of the essay approaches the phenomenon of general strikes as a distinct form of labour struggle during the crisis. In the fourth part, certain events of labour struggle are critically described, which have acquired increased significance due to their social and political impact. The fifth part of the essay elaborates on the structures and processes of grassroots labour struggles. Then, a separate chapter is dedicated to the struggle of the Vio. Me recuperated factory in Salonica, Greece. The final part of the essay deals with the interrelations of labour and wider social struggles and attempts to sketch the characteristics of a new paradigm of labour struggles in the country. Finally, we conclude our analysis by calling for the formulation of hybrid social/labour communities of struggle as the necessary step forward for the labour movement in Greece