Student revolt in Greece

More than 240 University Faculties all over Greece are occupied by students in the biggest mobilization of the last 15 years. The cause that triggered the revolt was the introduction by the right wing government of a new anti-education law that privatizes Universities, ties the University closely to the demands of the market and the capitalist companies and condemns most of the students to a future of unemployment and underpaid, "flexible" labor. It is noteworthy that in Greece with official unemployment rate more than 11%, the one third of jobless has a University degree.

The mobilization is now in its fourth week. Impressive demonstrations of thousands of students as last Thursday, June the 1st, in Athens, Thessalonica, Patras, Creta etc. clashed with the riot police. Inside the occupied faculties themselves, the students have to repel the violent attacks by right wing thugs. But the radicalization is deepening every week. At the leadership is the far left front of EAAK (students of NAR, EEK, Left Regroupment and other left wing organizations). The two major parties, the right wing New Democracy now in power and the pseudo-Socialist PASOK are in favor of the privatization of the Universities. The "hard line" Stalinist KKE (Communist Party of Greece) fights against the "adventurist - ultra leftist" occupations like scabs.

After a call of the Coordinating Committee of Occupations in Thessalonica 30 workers unions will join the mobilization of the students.

In the University of Piraeus, our comrades of the Organization of Revolutionary Youth (youth Section of EEK) are leading the struggle and won the majority for their program fro indefinite occupation of the University to repel the anti-education law and to overthrow the right wing Karamanlis government. We are also very active in the University of Athens as well as in Patras, Thessalonica, Creta, the Aegean University, the technical institutes in the west and north of Greece etc.

The example of the struggle in France against the CPE inspires the Greek students. A special meeting on the revolts in France and Greece was organized successfully in the occupied Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens with main speaker Savas Michael-Matsas, General Secretary of EEK.

This week is a crucial one as the government will use both State violence and right wing thugs against the occupations to allow examinations to take place and move to vote the draft law in parliament. On June 8, a new mass demonstration with delegations of students from all over Greece will take place in Athens.

Savas Michael