Greek Workers Ght Anti-strike

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Violent street battles errupted in Athens on May 25th leading to the arrest of almost 200 people and leaving dozens of workers injured. They were the direct result of the Karamanlis regime using police and military force to force sweeping anti-strike laws through Parliament. On the same day armed police attacked a crowd of 10,000 on the island of Rhodes who were protesting at the visit of two US warships.

The Athens clashes came on the second day of the 48 hours national strike called by a committee of trades unionists against the new laws.

Despite the fact that the government-recognised General Confederation Labour negotiated the final version of the law direct with the regime, over 150,000 workers struck forced some last minute amendments.

RUMP The official Confederation is a rump body in whose leadership government supporters and many figures who backed the Colonels dictatorship are strongly represented.

In many industries its sections are smaller than more militant unions built since the fall of the Junta in 1974.

The law now passed is a complete straightjacketing of the right to strike, formally embodied in the constitution since the end of open dictatorship.

It bans political and unofficial strikes and those without "proper notice"

Workers in state enterprises face a mandatory ten-day "cooling off" period. At the same time employers rights to impose immediate lock-outs and the scabs "right "to work get forceful legal backing, • These sweeping attacks on the working class were pushed By a Special Correspondent. through with massive police violence. Virtually the whole of the Athens police forces, with armoured cars and tear gas, were mobilised against a demonstration to the Parliament building.

An elderly woman died after being run down by a police car, and many building workers were among those injured and arrested.

Paratroops were reported to be at the ready in the northern suburbs, though they were not used. Nonetheless, street fighting continued for almost twelve hours bringing an extension of the strike in some areas, and a press strike in protest the following day.

The determined resistance put the trade union bureaucracy ree up - against very large sections of the abstention of the Communist Party - throws it doubt the government's ability to operate the new laws.

In principle, however, the law would have outlawed all th protests against the legislation.

HATRED The demonstration on Rhode reflected the deep hatred of U imperialism and its close relatior to the present regime. Police use tear gas in an attempt to disper a peaceful crowd of ten thousan demonstrating against presence of the aircraft carri America and a cruiser.

In the ensuing fighting ti police headquarters was serious damaged. So was the car of tl

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Page Z SOCIALIST PRESS. Wednesday June 2nd, 1976 IISERINANONAL MELIS