Greece: A Brutal Experiment on People's Lives

By Afrodity Giannakis Thessaloniki via Green Left
February 12, 2012

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49996

Greek unions launched a two-day general strike on
February 10 against new extreme austerity measures the
"troika" of the International Monetary Fund, European
Central Bank and European Union is seeking to impose on
the southern European nation. The deal will give Greece
a new "bail-out" worth 130 billion euros (A$161
billion) in return for fresh spending cuts.

Amid ongoing street protests and building occupations,
the Greek cabinet approved the deal on February 10. Six
cabinet members resigned in protest. Greek parliament
was scheduled to vote on the deal on the evening of
February 12.

[The vote was 199 in favor and 74 opposed, with 27
abstentions or blank ballots.- portside]

Below, Afrodity Giannakis writes from Thessaloniki on
the impact of the austerity on Greek society.
______________

I work as a permanent English teacher in a Greek
village, where I drive every day from my home in
Thessaloniki.

A few days ago, I was looking for a magazine in my
neighbourhood at about 9am before going to work. I
found that all the shops in the block had put up the
shutters, except for one closer to my home, which did
not have the magazine, anyway.

Shops closing down is a common occurrence in neoliberal
capitalist Greece, but the situation has rapidly
deteriorated since May 2010. That was the time of the
first memorandum, imposed on Greece by the "troika"
(the European Union, the European Central Bank and the
International Monetary Fund - IMF) and the Greek
Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) government.

Shop owners are forced to close because of the steep
plunge in consumption, combined with higher government
fees and other expenses.

I drove along the national road to go to work, about 45
kilometres from Thessaloniki. Until recently I worked
80km away from home. Last year I worked 700km away and
it is highly uncertain where I will be placed next
school year.

Far-away placements have been commonplace for Greek
teachers for a long time. What is new is the rising
casualisation, intensification of work and overall job
insecurity.

Now, it is going to be almost impossible for teachers
to make ends meet if they have to move away from home.
Having a job at all is also highly uncertain.

The reason is that the troika, in close collaboration
with the unelected Greek government imposed by the
troika, has decided on more public sector sackings.

Crippling cuts

The plans are part of the second memorandum agreement
between the troika and the Greek government.

This memorandum includes cuts of 14.3 billion euros
between 2012 and 2015, starting with 3.3 billion euros
this year.

With 11 million Greek people, these sums come up to a
high amount per head. This is all the more shocking if
we consider that a huge proportion of Greek people live
in extreme poverty.

The number of Greek people living at or below the
poverty line is more than 3 million and rising.

The new agreement includes 150,000 public sector
sackings to be be carried out by 2015. As a start,
15,000 public servants will lose their jobs this year.

Immediate sackings of 22,500 temporary and casual
teachers has also been raised.

The troika has persistently pushed immediate cuts to
military personnel numbers. This may be cause for
concern in the light of recent official statements that
anything is possible in Greece.

From the first memorandum on, measures first raised
years ago have finally been implemented. The attacks on
the Greek people seem to be part of a well thought-out
plan.

For example, the capitalists and their political
representatives have long demanded an end to public
service job permanency. They have also aimed to do away
with collective agreements.

Furthermore, ex-Pasok prime minister George Papandreou
had arranged to hand Greece over to the IMF before his
party won the 2009 elections.

The measures against the Greek people are
unprecedented. People are in a constant state of
stress, not knowing what is coming next.

My friends, colleagues, comrades - most people I come
across - don't seem to smile in the way they used to.
They seem thoughtful, less happy, lost, even depressed.

The immediate effects of the public sector sackings
will be higher unemployment (the official figure is now
20.9%) and deepened recession.

In my job, after the sackings of temporary and casual
teachers, face-to-face teaching hours will rise for
those remaining. Needless to say, there will not be an
accompanying salary rise.

These austerity measures are taking place against a
background of deteriorating conditions for students and
teachers.

There is a shocking shortage in school books, about
2000 schools closed down in the last school year, class
sizes have risen and funding for education has dropped
to 2.75% of the gross national product.

Schools do not have enough funding for photocopying
paper or central heating. In this year's freezing
winter, students and teachers have had lessons with
their coats on. Schools have been forced to shut down
due to inadequate heating.

The recession will be worsened by the 22% cut in the
minimum wage (32% for workers under 25). The minimum
wage will fall to 600 euros (A$741) gross a month (473
euros clear, less for young people) from the 739 euros
gross specified in the National General Collective
Agreement.

The estimated loss is three months wages per year. This
comes on top of the huge wage cuts since 2010.

The unemployment benefit, pensions and bonuses will be
also be affected. The dole will go down to 369 euros a
month from 461 euros.

The minimum wage cut will trickle down to all wage
brackets.

Pensions are also going to be slashed. Pensions in
public enterprises such as the Greek electricity
company, as well as salaries and job permanency, are
set to be worst affected. The explanation given is to
make these enterprises more "competitive" before
privatisation.

Closing down

Driving to work costs me almost 300 euros a month,
while my salary has gone down to 800 euros a month
clear, from over 1200 before the first memorandum.

Public service salaries have been cut by about 40%
since the first memorandum. The most recent cuts, of up
to 50%, were made last October. Another big salary cut
is planned for later this year.

I am still managing to hold on to my car; using public
transport for work would be very inconvenient.

Many people have given up their cars due to financial
hardship. Soaring petrol prices, as well as rises in
car registration and car insurance fees, have
compounded the problem.

About 160,000 number plates were handed in to the
taxation department at the end of the 2010 financial
year. Last year, the number exceeded 250,000.

Not surprisingly, petrol consumption dropped by 22%
last year, causing more than 1500 petrol stations to
close in the past two years. Thousands of jobs were
lost as a result.

Driving to work, I took a detour to avoid paying the
predatory road tolls. On top of the high car
registration rates and high petrol consumption tax,
Greek people have to pay costly road tolls to private
companies.

I kept looking for the magazine as I drove slowly
through three villages. The sense of devastation wasn't
as pronounced as in bigger towns or cities, but a lot
of shops seemed to have closed down recently, with shop
and merchandise signs still on them.

I finally found a kiosk still in operation, in the last
and biggest village. I finally bought my magazine.

On the same day, during my break, I was unable to find
a National Bank of Greece branch in the village where I
work. I spotted a branch office in the central square.
It seemed to be under renovation, but it turned out the
branch had closed down.

I had similar experiences looking for a doner kebab
place, a particular petrol station, a particular bank
where I used to pay my natural gas bills and a big
cosmetics store I used.

All shut down, empty and dusty, with some of the signs
still on and the windows serving as billboards.

A huge number of homeless people can be seen living in
open-air spaces. There are 25,000 homeless people in
Athens alone, driven out of unused public spaces by the
Pasok-affiliated mayor.

Many homeless people are dying during this year's
extremely harsh winter.

Public welfare services, as well as schools and
hospitals, are all but demolished.

People are driven to sordid poverty and despair, as
working rights are abolished and public enterprises and
resources are sold off. At the same time, rising taxes,
along with relentless price rises, are unbearable.

Tens of thousands of households and small businesses
have had their electricity cut off due to unpaid bills.

Many children faint in schools after they go hungry for
days because their parents can't afford to buy food.
There has been a huge rise in the number of children
sent to orphanages.

In many areas, the church or neighbourhood groups give
out mess to paupers. People scavenging rubbish bins for
food is now a common sight in Greece.

The Greek ministry of health reports psychological
problems and suicide rates have risen dramatically.

New deal

In an attempt to deceive the people, Greek ministers
have claimed they negotiated hard with the troika
before signing the agreement. They put on a big show of
trying to stop further bonus cuts, which were
supposedly finally stopped.

Government officials are also talking about economic
growth. On February 4, after a lengthy talk with the
troika, the Greek finance minister, Evangelos
Venizelos, called on all Greek people to stay united
and do their bit "to save the country".

By implementing more and more austerity measures, the
government deepens the recession and devastates the
lives of the overwhelming majority of the people.

Last November, the head of the European Commission Task
Force for Greece, Horst Reichenbach, said that Greece
was not ready for investment, as it hasn't hit rock
bottom yet. You don't need a major in politics or
economics to see what's in store for the Greek people.

The people are angry at the pro-memorandum political
forces. Pasok is polling 7-9.5% (coming fifth), the
other major party, the conservative New Democracy has
about 19% and far right Popular Orthodox Alert (LAOS)
has dropped to 4%.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Coalition of
the Radical Left (Syriza) are polling about 9% each.

The left must take advantage of this historical
opportunity, join forces and help the Greek people
reclaim their lives. They have to show the way forward,
instead of passively waiting for elections.

We must thwart the capitalists' plans. This nightmare
has to stop and the capitalists will not stop unless we
stop them.

___________________________________________

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