Greeting of the GS of the CC of the KKE, Al. Papariga, at a Meeting with the Congress Representatives of the World Federation of Trade Unions

Al. Papariga: We a need a labour movement that will fight for the reversal of the correlation of forces, for the overthrow of the power of the monopolies

On 7^th April the 800 and more delegates of the 16^th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions, which is being currently held in Athens, visited the headquarters of the CC of the KKE.

A great internationalist event was held at the congress hall of the CC of the KKE which shuddered with the sounds of workers’ revolutionary songs from all over the world.

The General Secretary of the CC of KKE, Aleka Papariga, spoke to the delegates and underlined among other things: “We assess that in the conditions of the crisis both the communist party and the labour-trade union movement are obliged to wage a very complex struggle. On the one hand, to create focuses and conditions for rallying the workers based on the daily problems which the crisis is sharpening, so that wider working-class masses can be drawn into action, especially younger age-groups which are relatively politically immature and have been educated in the conditions of the retreat of the world’s revolutionary labour movement and at the same time so that all these fronts in the sectors and workplaces will be united into a single movement which will fight for the overturning of the balance of forces, the overthrow of the power of the monopolies, in the direction of the socialist perspective”.

The full text of the greeting of the General Secretary of the CC of KKE:

It is with great joy that we welcome you to the headquarters of the CC of the KKE. We are awaiting the final decisions of your congress with great interest and hope, in a period when the peoples need a strong, stable, and unwavering support, a force of inspiration and confidence for their difficult and tortuous struggle.

The economic capitalist crisis is in full development; it began as always in one country, in this particular instance the USA, and afterwards has struck several countries in the EU in succession and many other countries as well.

The various economic institutes of imperialism and the most serious analysts have pointed out that when the recovery comes, successively from one country to another, it will be accompanied by high and increasing levels of unemployment and inflation. We add something that is tacitly acknowledged, that the inter-imperialist competition in conditions of liberalization of the movement of capital, is very likely to bring serious realignment in the imperialist pyramid, which will embrace the intermediate and possibly lower levels. Therefore, both in the period of crisis and recovery, political instability and sharpened military conflicts will break out in several countries, over the re-division of the “loot”.

The war against Libya is a characteristic symptom and certainly not the last, as similar developments have been noted in a series of Arab countries, while Africa has become a major arena of inter-imperialist competition.

It is inevitable, in our opinion, that today the specification of the strategy and the tactics of the labour movement is a top priority, so that it can withstand the pressure in the period of the crisis, in order to pass into the phase of counterattack, to make a serious step forward, a small or big leap, so that the negative balance of forces over the last 20 years begins to be reversed.

We talk about this specification as a party, because the crisis found us ideologically and politically prepared, with a new programme and an elaborated strategy for these contemporary conditions, and also with extended bonds with the working class and the poor popular strata of our country.

What has helped us, in our opinion, to be prepared are our elaborations concerning the development of Greek capitalism in the conditions of its assimilation into the EU, the policy of alliances which we have refined, which is based on the social-class structure of the country and the work we have carried out for the last eighteen years to draw scientific conclusions on socialist construction in the 20^th century and the causes of the victory of the counterrevolution, particular the internal ones which chiefly concern the party.

We assess that in the conditions of the crisis both the communist party and the labour-trade union movement are obliged to wage a very complex struggle. On the one hand, to create focuses and conditions for rallying the workers based on the daily problems which the crisis is sharpening, so that wider working-class masses can be drawn into action, especially younger age-groups which are relatively politically immature and have been educated in the conditions of the retreat of the world’s revolutionary labour movement and at the same time so that all these fronts in the sectors and workplaces will be united into a single movement which will fight for the overturning of the balance of forces, the overthrow of the power of the monopolies, in the direction of the socialist perspective.

Of course this is not an easy matter, because in the conditions of crisis the radicalism that develops not only comes up against state violence and ideological intimidation, but it also comes up against the systematic dissemination of reformist and opportunist views which cloud, weaken, fragment and assimilate consciousness.

However, there is no other alternative to the strategy for rupture and overthrow.

What is obvious today, and constitutes a relatively new element, is that the capitalist system at a national, regional and international level has very limited room for manoeuvre in the management of the crisis compared to the past, due to the competition, the even greater anarchy under the conditions of the liberation of the movement of capital, the increase in the number of the imperialist centres which fight for re-division of the markets etc.

The historic limits of the capitalist system have become more visible today than during the crisis 1929-33 or even during the 1970s.

The struggles which are limited to certain fragmented demands, which aim at blunting the consequences of the crisis, are not effective, the governments show endurance, they take risks, however they cannot make the concessions that they made in the past.

This does not mean that we a priori limit the class struggle, but reality demonstrates that a movement can tire out easily, that it can be assimilated or broken, when it is limited strategically to a struggle for some defensive demands, in a period when whatever gains that had been won or conceded are being abolished. In this way the trade union movement is either in danger of being led to being scorned and discredited and to eventually losing its fighting character and becoming completely degenerate, as has happened unfortunately in the USA. It is in danger of becoming fully assimilated and disarmed as in a series of European countries. The issue of political power for the working class and its allies must be taken up by the labour movement itself, not voluntaristically or in sloganeering manner, but in a planned way, taking into account the experience of the masses. It is true today that the working class must be convinced, as large a part of it as possible, from its own experience. But for this experience to be transformed into political maturity it needs the correct revolutionary strategy and tactics, otherwise the experience of the masses will be shaped not only based on their problems, but on the ideological trash of bourgeois ideology and reformism and opportunism. The capitalist system cannot be reformed or modernised in favour of the workers. No alternative version of the management of the system can negate the barbarity of the class exploitation. The capitalist system possesses certain reserves to form governments of alliances with reformist and opportunist forces, ecological formations, but this does not change the fact that the people face a bourgeois government that supports the capitalist system firmly and consistently.

An exceptionally serious issue is the stance of the communist and labour movement in relation to imperialist war and any form of intervention.

The distinction between just and unjust wars is absolutely true today. It is not a matter of choice; the question has an objective character because imperialism and war are absolutely compatible.

We said NO from the first moment to the imperialist war in the Balkans, Middle East, Africa, Asia, irrespective of our disagreements with the regimes and governments of each particular country. The No to war in Iraq did not of course mean tolerance of Saddam, nor does the No to war in Libya have anything to do with support for or toleration of Gaddafi.

The peoples have the first responsibility in their own countries, led by the working class, to impose the overthrow of the balance of forces and bring about radical change, without imperialist protection and interventions. The necessity for there to exist a united international working class solidarity with the people who suffer is a different thing.

We are of the opinion that widest enlightenment of the peoples must be conducted more daringly and openly, along with practical actions, so as to strengthen the political position that no people should line up alongside the bourgeois class of its country in the inter-imperialist competition, in the attempt to win a portion of the loot derived from class exploitation and imperialist oppression.

Imperialist war has an objective character. With the current balance of forces it is difficult to avert, without meaning of course that there must not be a systematic popular effort to stop it. It is possible that somewhere there could be some sort of result in today’s conditions. Nevertheless, when an imperialist war breaks out, the issue is objectively placed not only for the communist party but for the trade union and labour movement, to the extent to which it has held onto or developed a class orientation, to transform the struggle against occupation or participation in a war into a struggle for power, to the extent of course to which the preconditions for the immediate transition to socialism have emerged. In any case the anti-war movement must not focus only on the humanitarian aspect, or even more so conduct a fight which temporarily ignores the class struggle in the name of ending the war. The bourgeois class has for a long time demonstrated that in the face of a popular uprising it prefers the political protection of an imperialist ally, to collaborate with the aggressor, rather than safeguard the integrity and sovereign rights of its country.

We feel it our obligation, to struggle with all those who have sympathy with the principles of the class struggle especially with the communists elected to the organs of the WFTU, of the trade unions, to contribute to the strengthening of the organization, through new member organizations, in new countries, so that it can be a global force for struggle and hope.