May 1st is a widely recognized day of labor protest, though not so much in the US. Given the current situation in Greece, it was clearly time for a general strike. We heard this week that the unemployment rate here is 27.4 percent. That is HIGHER than in the US at the worst part of the Depression (we heard this comparison on Fareed Zacharia's TV program a few days ago).
We had heard about it in advance (we even got emailed notification from the State Dept.!). Though we hadn't planned to attend (we'd seen various other strikes since we've been here, when we went out for errands, we passed within a block of Syntagma Square (usually a focus of demonstrations) and thought we'd take a look.
In anticipation, the police had closed down our usual path through the National Gardens (because the Parliament Building is in the same property, though fenced off). It was only 10:00 or so, and the crowd was just beginning to form. Most folks were taking advantage of the shade, waiting for the action to start. As you will see from the various videos, it was an entirely peaceful holiday-in-May action, men, women, children, young and old.
We kept going toward our destination, only to pass many more marchers going the other way.
A half hour later, after we had run errands, we passed the marchers again!
Below are some still photos of the many signs we passed at various times.
According to Ken's best attempt at translation, this says "Build a Social Alliance"
This is partly in response to a recent scandal concerning immigrant--mostly north African--strawberry pickers. They protested their working conditions and the fact that they went unpaid for long periods--their "supervisors" opened fire and wounded about thirty people though fortunately none was killed. Also the far-right, nativist party (we've mentioned it before in this blog) has made a lot of noise about illegal foreign workers (as though they were a cause of the economic problems!!)
This says Marxism 2013: how we can change the world
Some of the phrases in the hand-painted banner: "The banks should pay" and "Committee of Residents of Glyfada" (a rather tony suburb of Athens); it also mentions a "burdensome levy" (i.e. tax).
And this hand-lettered sign, which a woman carried over her head, says (more or less): "Three years and the traitors are still here. Where did the patriots go? Let's all stick together."
"Everyone take to the streets!"
International Workers (of the or to the) Left
Something about "unemployment," "one-way street," and "overthrow"
"Let's take history in our hands." "Overthrow them."
This one was not part of the regular parade route. It was on the grounds of a museum. Of course, we don't know that it was put up just for the May Day action...it could have been there for quite a while. It says, "Open your eyes--they want them closed."
We had heard about it in advance (we even got emailed notification from the State Dept.!). Though we hadn't planned to attend (we'd seen various other strikes since we've been here, when we went out for errands, we passed within a block of Syntagma Square (usually a focus of demonstrations) and thought we'd take a look.
In anticipation, the police had closed down our usual path through the National Gardens (because the Parliament Building is in the same property, though fenced off). It was only 10:00 or so, and the crowd was just beginning to form. Most folks were taking advantage of the shade, waiting for the action to start. As you will see from the various videos, it was an entirely peaceful holiday-in-May action, men, women, children, young and old.
This one was not part of the regular parade route. It was on the grounds of a museum. Of course, we don't know that it was put up just for the May Day action...it could have been there for quite a while. It says, "Open your eyes--they want them closed."
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