The European Trade Union Confederation issued an important open letter, considering the historical dimension in the confrontation between the European institutions and the Greek government.
Open letter to:
– EU Heads of States and Governments;
– Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission;
– Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament;
– Donald Tusk, President of the European Council;
– Xavier Bettel, President of the Council of the European Union;
– Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank;
– Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup;
– Christine Lagarde, Director-General of the International Monetary Fund.
Dear Madam, dear Sir,
The events unfolding in Greece are of historic significance. Solutions must be found to keep Greece in the Eurozone and in the European Union. This requires political leadership, not a technocratic approach.
Greek people have voted against austerity, unemployment, and poverty that made Greek debt unsustainable. They have not voted against the EU or against the Euro.
We consider that this referendum is a clear signal that policies imposed during the last five years are socially unbearable and an economic failure. People must not be penalised for the way they voted.
EU leaders have now an unavoidable responsibility to find a sensible compromise. The solution should not be technical or left to the ECB, it must be political.
We are convinced that EU leaders should think hard and long before pushing Greece out of the Eurozone. Now is the moment to show what a European Union means.
We are calling on you to resume negotiations in good faith with the aim of rapidly reaching a socially fair and economically sustainable agreement with the Greek government.
Yours sincerely,
– Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary
– Reiner Hoffmann, DGB President
– Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, ETUC President &CC.OO General Secretary
– Yannis Panagopoulos, GSEE President
– Frances O’Grady, TUC General Secretary
– Rudy De Leeuw, FGTB President
– Marie-Hélène Ska, CSC General Secretary
– Candido Mendez, UGT-E General Secretary
– Susanna Camusso, CGIL General Secretary
– Erich Foglar, ÖGB President
– Catelene Passchier, FNV Vice-President
– Josef Středula, CMKOS President
– Laurent Berger, CFDT General Secretary
– Dimitar Manolov, PODKREPA President
– Bente Sorgenfrey, FTF President
– Eduardo Chagas, ETF General Secretary
– Roger Mercatoris, Eurocop Vice-President
– Oliver Röthig, Uni-Europa Regional Secretary
– France Sponem Perez, ETUC Women’s Committee President
Signatories of this open letter are members of the ETUC Steering committee.
Additional signatures follow and will be updated.
– Philippe Martinez, CGT General Secretary;
– Marc Goblet, FGTB General Secretary;
– Luc Bérille, UNSA General Secretary;
– Philippe Louis, CFTC General Secretary;
– Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary;
– Martin Romer, ETUCE General Secretary;
– Jean-Claude Mailly, FO General Secretary;
– Fausto Durante, CGIL International Secretary;
– Zoe Lanara, GSEE International Secretary;
– Jim Boumelha, IFJ President;
– Ulrich Eckelmann, IndustriAll-Europe General Secretary;
– Leonard Barascu, CNSLR-Fratia President;
– Julio Salazar, USO General Secretary;
– Nicos Moyseos, SEK General Secretary;
– Annamaria Furlan, CISL General Secretary;
– Carmelo Barbagallo,UIL General Secretary;
– Michele Berti, IR.T.U.Cs Coordinating Committee President;
– Salvatore Marra, ETUC Youth Committee President;
– Harald Børsting, LO-DK President;
– Gabriele Bischoff, DGB Special Adviser;
– Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, LO-S President;
– Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary;
07.07.2015
https://www.etuc.org/press/etuc-open-letter-eu-heads-states-and-governments-and-eu-leaders#.VaOizzuzpKo