On the 17th of October, our boss was clear : 5 hours a day and 40%
salary reduction. Two days later, after a general assembly of 280 attendees the workers' response was "If
you proceed, we will go on strike". On the 31st of October and only 5
minutes before 3 in the afternoon, the first dismissal was delivered to a
workers' house; followed by another 18 in the same evening. Within one hour of
the first dismissal, the workers had closed down the factory, went on strike
and after 26 days, they were heard around the world.
“Greek Steelworks SA”
It is noteworthy that the only elements that the workers have is their
own work: increasing production from 196,000 tons last year to 266,000 tons
this year.
On the 14th of November, the owner of the "Greek Steelworks"
Mr. Manesis admitted to the chairman of the workers that he didn't expect so
much fighting spirit and determination from them. He (the chairman) replied
that not all unions are the same. "Over here Mr. Manesis" he said,
"there's fire and iron"..
While they were on the
32nd day of strike, another 16 dismissals were delivered, showing that the
industrialists are still not considering their struggle.