In Greece, large protests have been staged against Angela Merkel and the European Union. But this is not all: Today, workers in Thessaloniki are fighting to take the factroy under their control, and a Greek solidarity movement is supporting them. Here is a press release from Open Solidarity Initiative:

THE FACTORIES BELONG TO THE WORKERS

It is already the 17th month that the factory "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" (subsidiary of Philkeram-Johnson) in Thessaloniki, Greece, remains shut. The workers of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" are in an important struggle, fighting under difficult conditions, unpaid from May 2011 and existing under suspension of works with great difficulty of survival, to keep a very dynamic industry of construction materials alive, and the workers with dignity and pride against unemployment, poverty and pauperisation.

The workers of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" are struggling to take the factory from capital's grasp and give it into the hands of the workers! They struggle to materialise that we the workers can live without bosses!

By their side are hundreds of workers and unemployed, either organised in collectivities or not, who support the struggle of the union of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" politically, economically and morally, by organising initiatives, conferences and solidarity events in many cities across Greece, and also abroad.

In a period where the majority of society is under attack, sacrifice to profit and the rescue of the "national economy" of the banks and industrialists, the example of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki", that is given by a union that functions with processes of direct democracy, is moving and inspiring to more people by the minute. This is because the struggle of the workers for self-management of the factory, for complete workers' control over the means of production and living, finds increasingly more supporters in a conjuncture where the companies that go out of business and massive unemployment are daily news in every corner of Greece.

This is why the struggle of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" must become the struggle of all the workers, of the whole of attacked society.

The part of the Open Solidarity Initiative is to reinforce the struggle of the union of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki", by strengthening the informative and solidarity campaign, making sure that the calling of the workers reaches every workplace and every neighbourhood. For this we organise campaigns together with the union from the Industrial Zone to the centre of Thessaloniki.

Let's set out on the road of struggle

In the era of one-way capitalism and the continuous attack by the government and the troika, who threaten to crush the needs and rights of millions of workers and unemployed, we set forth on the modern just social struggles, making one more step to our -so necessary today- counter-attack to overthrow capitalism.

We strengthen the voice of the workers of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" who call out: You can't? We can!

Open Solidarity Initiative,
Thessaloniki

For support of the struggle of the workers of "Viomichaniki Metalleutiki" send e-mail: protbiometal@gmail.com, or visit the union's website: http://biom-metal.blogspot.gr/