Friday 30 April 2010

May Day! International Workers' Day!

Workers’ unity across Europe to resist the attacks!
We will not pay for the bosses’ crisis!

Support Greek general strike on 5 May - call for international solidarity!

Statement of GUE/NGL (United Left) MEPs in solidarity with Greek and all European workers. Below we publish a statement issued on behalf of MEPs from the GUE/NGL (United Left) group in the European parliament. The initiative for the statement was taken by Joe Higgins, Socialist Party (CWI in Ireland) MEP. Eleven MEPs (named below) have individually agreed to endorse the statement.

While governments in Europe are divided on how to deal with the deepening crisis in the eurozone, they are all united about who should pay for this crisis. The establishment is committed to making working class people right across Europe pay for the capitalist crisis - through cutbacks in public services and a slashing of wages.

Greek workers are currently subject to savage assaults on their living standards. Workers in Portugal, Spain and Ireland all face similar attacks, as do working people throughout Europe.

We want to send out a clear message of solidarity to all European workers, pensioners and young people. We oppose the attempts by the European establishment to whip up nationalist tensions to divide us. As international workers’ day approaches on 1 May we stress the need for international action to defend the interests of working people.

We call for a united stand of workers across Europe to respond to the IMF, the international financial markets and the neo-liberal politicians in Europe with the declaration: "We will not pay for your crisis!"

We support the planned general strike action in Greece on 5 May and call for international solidarity actions on that date as a step towards major European-wide mobilisations against the crisis and the attacks on workers.

* Workers’ solidarity across Europe with Greek workers who are under attack.
* No to the dictatorship of the financial markets, credit ratings institutions and the IMF.
* Unity of all workers across Europe - we will not pay for the bosses’ crisis!

Individually supported by the following MEPs:
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party (CWI in Ireland)
Nikolas Chountis, Syriza (Greece)
Rui Tavares, Left Bloc (Portugal)
Miguel Portas, Left Bloc (Portugal)
Marisa Matias, Left Bloc (Portugal)
Jurgen Klute, Die Linke (Germany)
Sabine Wils, Die Linke (Germany)
Sabine Losing, Die Linke (Germany)
Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, AKEL (Cyprus)
Willy Meyer, Izquierda Unida (Spain)
Eva Britt-Svennson, Left Party (Sweden)

From www.socialistworld.net - website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI