the RESPECT party

Kevin Ovenden reports from Athens on the 48 hour General Strike

The huge strike wave and protests in Greece of the last 48 hours have shown just how isolated the Pasok (similar To Labour) government of Giorgos Papandreou's is. Yesterday (Thursday) was the big day for the protests. Estimates for the turnout vary, as is usually the case. But they were huge everywhere and probably involved about 10 percent of the Greek population taking part directly.

The strikes involved workers across the public and private sectors as well as taxi drivers, kiosk owners, shopkeepers and many small businessmen who also feel they cannot go on making sacrifice after sacrifice to pay the money demanded by the European Union and the bankers.

The government lost another MP in the vote on the austerity measures today - an "old Pasok" figure who couldn't bring herself to abolish collective bargaining in industry. The measures were voted through, but no one really believes they can be forced through and that defaulting on the debt is merely a matter of time.

The strikes and demonstrations were the biggest since the financial crisis first hit Greece three years ago. That is one of the most important aspects of what is happening. Despite tremendous hardship the resistance is not going away – it’s growing. Nor has it developed in one big blow, but has unfolded gradually over the last two years. In Britain, where we are at the beginnings of this kind of process, that's worth bearing in mind.

Desperation is growing, as are frustrations. There are serious attempts by the government and authorities to split the movement. There are many different forces involved in the Greek movement but there's the potential for unity based on answering the burning problems facing working people. There is also the potential for unnecessary divisions as different strategies for resistance are put to the test.

One such moment occurred yesterday outside the parliament building in central Athens.

The Communist Party (KKE) and its union wing (PAME) arrived early to encircle the parliament. This was a big step forward. The KKE is a big party with deep working class support. It has representatives in the parliament and currently has as much as 15 percent support.

It has in the last period kept away from central Syntagma Square for fear that its bloc would be drawn in behind the “Occupy!” protesters or other parts of the radical left.

But it is feeling more confident and has also shifted to the left, for example, calling for the fall of the government. So they went to the square today, which was excellent news for all those who want to see the greatest unity between working people in the course of this struggle.