The UITBB strongly condemns the brutal assault of the Greek riot police and the arrest of 36 union members of PAME which took place yesterday in the Ministry of Labour in Athens.
The Union leaders, among them the General Secretary Kostas Hantsiaras of the Greek Federation of Building Workers, demanded for a meeting with the Minister of Labour to protest against the anti-social and anti-workers policies, which are implemented by the Greek government together with other European governments under the dictate of the Troika, thus destroying the living and working conditions achieved as a result of over a hundred years of popular and union struggle.
The UITBB condemns the repression perpetrated by the Greek government against those who, like PAME, oppose these politics which have proved to be disastrous for the countries and people concerned.
The attack on PAME’s trade unionists and their arrest must be condemned by the entire European and global trade union movement. It is a blatant violation of trade union rights, in particular the right and obligation to stand up for working people and their right to employment with rights and to a decent life.
The UITBB declares its militant solidarity with the arrested trade union leaders and demands their immediate release.
The UITBB calls upon its affiliated and supporter Unions to express their solidarity with PAME and to demand:
FREE THE PAME TRADE UNION LEADERS!
