Greece on the streets — “Our dead, their profits” — Massive strike rallies for the train crash crime

Thousands of workers, school pupils and students, young men and women, participated on Wednesday in massive nationwide strike demonstrations across Greece, demanding no cover-up of the governmental responsibilities for the fatal train crash that took place in Larissa on February 28th. 

 

The strike came as a continuation of the March 5th huge rally held in Athens' Syntagma Square during the 48-hour strike of railway workers. Read here the call by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME).

STATEMENTS BY THE KKE AND PAME ON THE FATAL TRAIN CRASH IN GREECE: "CRIME, NOT ACCIDENT"

In a statement about the fatal train crash in Tempe, near the city of Larissa in central Greece, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party (KKE) issued the following statement:

"The KKE expresses its sorrow for the unprecedented fatal train accident in Tempe and its sincere condolences to the families of the victims. It calls upon its members and friends to participate in the blood donations held in the towns where the injured are being hospitalized.

We demand that there be a full investigation into the causes of this tragedy, that nothing be covered up!

Fatal train crash in Greece: A crime against the people that was bound to happen

Late in the evening of 28 February, two trains, one passenger and one cargo, running on the Athens-Thessaloniki line collided head-on near the city of Larissa, resulting in the injury and the tragic loss of dozens of people.

From the first moment, the GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, stated the following:

“It is a day of unspeakable sorrow for the unprecedented fatal train accident in Tempe, but also of anger for how it is possible that human lives are lost in this tragic way.

Greece: Communist Party members blocked train carrying US-NATO military equipment (VIDEO)

Photo: 902.gr

Members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Youth (KNE) set up a blockade on a train carrying US-NATO military equipment and combat vehicles at the exist of the port of Alexandroupolis. 

Shouting anti-imperialist slogans, the protesters blocked the railroad and with demanded an end to Greece's involvement in the ongoing imperialist war in Ukraine, as well as in the transformation of Alexandroupolis into a hub of NATO aggression.

La France en grève - Solidarity with railway workers against Macron's policies

France is on strike! Thousands workers have been in streets during the last weeks, participating in strikes and mobilizations, protesting against the new "reforms" that the Macron-Philippe government promotes in order to serve the needs of the domestic capital. 

More specifically, the French government launched a lightning war against the railwaymen. It has decided to pass by order (without debate or vote in parliament) a privatization project of the SNCF (the national railway company) and to remove the railway status, conquered by the workers' struggles of the past. Among the Macron government’s plans is to lay off 120,000 public sector workers.

Greek-Bulgarian memorandum for railway connection serves the profitability of monopoly groups

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece issued a statement about the recent memorandum signed between the governments of Greece and Bulgaria, regarding the construction of a new railway connection. 

"From the advertisement of capitalist businesses to the signing of- needed for the capital- interstate agreements, the SYRIZA-ANEL government continues to promote the known fairy tale of development which- supposedly- can be beneficial for both monopolies and the people. 

The truth is that the interstate agreement for the construction of "Egnatia Railway", which, through a new line, will connect Kavala with Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis and from there with the ports of Ruse, Varna and Burgas (Bulgaria), comes as a demand of the monopoly groups in the Transporation sector and during a period when the privatization of TRAINOSE (Greece's state railways) and ports is under way.