Thirty or more migrant workers have been wounded in a shooting on a strawberry farm in southern Greece. Eight of the workers remain in critical condition.

More... (http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/19/shoo-a19.html)

The KKE and PAME denounce the murderous attack against immigrant workers

Immigrant agricultural workers were attacked on the 17/4 by the big landowners and foremen in Manolada in Elis , because they were struggling for the payment of their wages.

They wounded over 33 workers (8 seriously), cold-bloodedly shooting them, because they were struggling for their wages.

The KKE denounces the murderous attack against the immigrants, agricultural workers by the big land-owners and foremen in Manolada, Elis, because they were struggling for the obvious, the payment of their wages. The attack resulted in thirty three of them being wounded, eight of them seriously.

This is not the first time that something like this has happened in the specific area. The government and local authorities in this area bear very serious responsibilities regarding the contemporary slave market and the inhuman working conditions of the immigrant workers which lead to phenomena like today’s criminal attack against them.

This specific event, when the bosses and their thugs attacked the workers who are struggling for their rights, reminds us of other eras and confirms that the system today, capitalism, entails barbarity. Greeks and foreign workers, united like a fist, must fight against this barbarity and the system that creates it.

The All-militant Workers’ Front (PAME) mentioned in relation to the attack in Manolada:

“The immigrant agricultural workers in Manolada are on the receiving end not only of state and but also employer intimidation on a daily basis. They work without any protective measures and without social-security cover. They live in terrible conditions and without any measures for their health and medical care. Today they were attacked in a murderous way, when the employers’ thugs opened fire on them. This resulted in 28 of them being taken to hospital.”

A protest and solidarity rally is being organized by the KKE on Thursday 18/4, 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in the central square of Manolada.

http://inter.kke.gr/News/news2013/2013-04-18manolada/

confirms that the system today, capitalism, entails barbarity

This will only get worse. Nikos said once that this crisis might be the crisis; and with each passing day, it looks more and more like he might be right. There seem to be a complete lack of understanding or capacity displayed by the ruling bourgeoisie. They don't want to face what they must do - destroy capital. Of course, these decisions are never made based upon a concerted series of actions, it is never "deliberate", but always inevitable. They will stumble into a solution and it will be very bad. Austerity is the ruling class' attempt to find a solution that only hurts the workers and poor - of course, that will be insufficient, and the crisis will only deepen, worldwide. Nobody seems to "get" it...

This will only get worse. Nikos said once that this crisis might be the crisis; and with each passing day, it looks more and more like he might be right. There seem to be a complete lack of understanding or capacity displayed by the ruling bourgeoisie. They don't want to face what they must do - destroy capital. Of course, these decisions are never made based upon a concerted series of actions, it is never "deliberate", but always inevitable. They will stumble into a solution and it will be very bad. Austerity is the ruling class' attempt to find a solution that only hurts the workers and poor - of course, that will be insufficient, and the crisis will only deepen, worldwide. Nobody seems to "get" it...

Yeah, but ya never know until after the fact...unless you're Lenin.

Well, ain't nobody gonna give up their capital for the greater good, that's Keynesian and an absurd expectation. Trying to get blood from the masses' turnip is vicious and counter productive, it kills consumption required for profits. The system is so awash in 'fictitious money' that they might not notice that the real economy is bad sick until the funny money is shredded again. So it comes down to someone elses capital, only one way to do that. First destitution and then slaughter, the gifts of the ruling class to us.

First destitution and then slaughter, the gifts of the ruling class to us.

That's it in a nutshell. Folks can talk all they want about "civic-minded" bourgeoisie, but there is civic-minded and then there's civic-minded. Support the troops!

Immediate response of the communists and the working class


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ruEnIQxHFN4

“Greek and foreign workers united” “profits bathed in the blood of the workers in all Greece and Manolada” “The law is what is right for the workers” were the slogans shouted by the Greek and foreign workers in the centre of Nea Manolada as well as in Athens, Thessalonica, Giannena, after the call of the KKE, denouncing the murderous attack that was unleashed by the big strawberry farmers of Nea Manolada on 17/4, in response to the obvious demand of the immigrants to be paid for their hard work.

The communists, who for many years have been at the side of the immigrant workers, participated in the demonstration of the KKE in Nea Manolada alongside many agricultural workers. “This situation cannot go on, as the evil committed in Manolada and the wider region by the big business men in strawberry production and their thugs has gone on too long” stressed Dimitris Tzavaras, member of the CC of the KKE and secretary of the Pelopponese region of the party, at the demonstration “the attack against the immigrant agricultural workers is an attack on the whole working class, its movement, its vanguard. The immigrant agricultural workers of Manolada are a section of the Greek working class, so they are with us and we with them. While against us we have the capitalists and their thugs, and all those who provide support and toleration (state, mechanisms, political forces). The stance of each person regarding this issue tells us about their quality, about what interests they serve.” Dimitris Tzavaras noted.

The profits of the strawberry producers are dyed in blood, stated Nikos Karathanassopoulos, member of the CC of the KKE and MP, at the demonstration stressing that the government and the local authroities in the municipality and region bear enormous responsibilities, as they have let this situation be perpetuated. With a dynamic and mass march to the fields where the sweat and blood of the workers is shed, those who produce the wealth, the mobilization of the KKE came to an end, answering in an immediate and dynamic way all those who want to foster racism, and to keep the workers divided, Greeks and foreigners, who have no reason to be divided.

Apart from the mobilizations against the anti-worker crime which were organized by the KKE in this specific region, as well as in the capital and other cities, the All-workers’ Militant front (PAME) also took important initiatives. PAME carried out protests at the Ministry for Citizen Protection and the Ministry of Labour, together with the “Bangladeshi Union of Workers”, as well as many local neighbourhood demonstrations in Athens, Thessalonica, Piraeus. While dozens of trade unions, federations, and labour centres that are rallied in PAME all over the country issued statements which condemned the murderous attack against the immigrant workers.

The KKE brought the issue to Parliament

A parliamentary question to the ministers of Labour, Social Security and Welfare and Public Order and Citizen Protection was tabled by the MP of the KKE, N. Karathanassopoulos regarding the murderous attack against the immigrant agricultural workers in Manolada. Amongst other things, he demanded to learn what measures the government intends to take in order to:

To stop the modern “slave-trade” of agricultural workers, immigrants in the area of Manolada and to secure humane living and working conditions.

For their wages to be paid, based on the collective bargaining agreement.

To arrest and punish the perpetrators of the murderous attack, to secure the full rehabilitation of the health of the injured, that no one be deported and to secure their legal residency and work.

http://inter.kke.gr/News/news2013/2013-04-19-manolada/