The Executive Board of the Party of the European Left (ELP), met this weekend in Rome and approved a resolution of support and solidarity with the cleaners of the Greek Ministry of Finance who are maintaining a titanic and model struggle for defending their right to employment before the dismissal that will leave them in the street poured out to the misery.

The government wants to privatize the public cleaning service, basically composed of women and passed them to the status of job reservation until they dismiss them definitively in May. Many of them are over 50 years old, are not qualified and have very little chance to find a job in a country that suffers a 62.8% of female unemployment. That means that do not have quoted enough to receive the economic benefit of retirement and will not be entitled to health care.

Faced with this situation, since September 18, the 595 women are demonstrating daily in front of the Ministry of Finance to defend their jobs. The only answer they have had so far is repression. 

The statement approved by the Party of the European Left explains that where the cleaning services have been privatized, they end up being more expensive and women work in the absolute precariousness, without a contract or signing blank papers, working 8 hours but only 3 are paid. Konstantina Kouvena, janitor and trade unionist, was sprayed with acid because of reporting the situation a few years ago.

Below is the full text of the resolution:
 

The Party of the European Left expresses its full support and solidarity to the fighting cleaning women of the Greek Ministry of Finance

595 cleaning women since 18^thSeptember 2013 have been in a state of suspension and in May 2014 are to lose their jobs, to be fired. The Greek government is promoting an agenda of privatization of public services such as public system of cleaning. Meanwhile, private cleaning companies cost more and also most of the workers who are women, working without contracts, signing blank forms, work 6 hours and get paid for 3. Kostantina Kouneva was working under those conditions and because of her syndicate activities, she was splashed with acid.

As cleaning women belong to the lower strata of the working class and as they are women, Greek Government thought that would be an easy target and the weakest link. But together with thousands of other redundant workers, women strongly keep fighting against the Greek Government and Troika’s measures. Most of cleaning women are over 50, very close to retirement and pension, considering that they do not have reached the retirement age yet and it is impossible to find a job in that age, they will never get pension and they won't have any right to healthcare. Even though unemployment in Greece is at 27% and for women it is at 62.8%, Greek Government has decided to fire cleaning women, without severance pay, without unemployment benefit, and without any protection for one- parent family. For four months, since 18th September, cleaning women have been protesting daily outside the Ministry of Finance. They have been fighting a titanic fight that has been answered by the Greek Government with violence and repression.
 

Europe has to protect human rights and not to let them sacrifice in the name of the economic crisis.

Thus,

We declare our solidarity with the struggles of cleaning women

We support unconditional their right to work, to social security, to pension

We oppose to catastrophic measures and policies that lead working class to utter poverty

11 February 2014