1886 CHICAGO – 1936 THESSALONIKI – 1944 KAISARIANI
MAY DAY 2026
STRIKE RALLY – SYNTAGMA SQUARE, 10:30
140 years after the great strike in Chicago in 1886, the tobacco workers of Thessaloniki in 1936, and the ultimate sacrifice of the 200 communists on May Day of 1944 in Kaisariani, we pick up the thread and continue to fight today, under conditions where global war seems closer than ever.
In a world that is burning, we, the workers, have a duty toward history and toward our children to draw a clear line between ourselves and those who want us as pawns in their dangerous war chess game. We have a duty to stand up and demand better working and living conditions.
140 years later, we continue, against the barbarity of the now legalized 13-hour workday, to seek balance between working time and free time, safety in workplaces, and ensuring that our wages do not run out before the end of the month.
The large nationwide assembly of PAME, with the participation of 718 unions from all over Greece, makes us stronger. We unite our voices with more than 2,000 trade unionists, many of whom participated for the first time, as did our union, to declare that we will not tolerate working from dawn to dusk, being unable to meet the cost of living, and ultimately becoming cannon fodder in their wars.
The government of New Democracy today, building on the foundations laid by previous governments and implementing EU directives, clearly targets the working class of the country by increasing daily working hours, creating new “Violantes” every day, continuously underfunding health and education, while at the same time “miraculously” finding money to support the country’s involvement in war.
We, the workers—Greeks and migrants—who have already felt the consequences of war on our own skin, demand an end to any involvement of our country in war, the return of military missions stationed abroad to serve imperialist interests, and the closure of all US and NATO bases that make us targets of retaliation.
We refuse to make further sacrifices for their profits and their wars! We have nothing to gain but peace and the friendship of peoples, as is proven daily by practical solidarity with the long-suffering people of Palestine, the people of Cuba, Venezuela, and every place targeted by the vultures of imperialist attacks.
Today, when our safety openly conflicts with the interests of big business and the state, the time has come to set aside any doubts that silence can secure our jobs and to follow the path of our colleagues at Intracom, Vodafone, and Nokia, who through strike mobilizations secured unpaid wages and obstructed hundreds of layoffs and anti-labor plans of the corporate groups.
Today, more than ever, we must take matters into our own hands and build a future based on our rights and our children’s dreams, not on the appetites of every big business shark who values nothing but profit.
We, the workers at Concentrix, have experience. Through our struggles, our Union was born, and from its very first day it has stood by dozens of our colleagues, fighting to improve working conditions, reduce work intensification, and secure additional rights for mothers with infants or people with chronic illnesses. We know how to make each colleague’s issue a matter for all.
This May Day, with our heads held high, we strike and demand:
• Disengagement of the country from the war
• Immediate closure of all NATO bases
• Return of military forces stationed abroad
• Collective labor agreements guaranteeing wages and rights, 7-hour workday – 5-day week – 35-hour week
• Funding for Health and Education
We call on the company’s workers to a General Assembly on Friday 24/4, 18:00, at the offices of SETIP (58 Solomou Street, 3rd floor) to discuss our next steps in the struggle for a Collective Labor Agreement and the organization of the May 1st strike.
We follow the path of the 200 of Kaisariani
and continue until the final victory!
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE WORKERS’ UNION
AT WEBHELP –