Press release 3-07-2013
Today POSPERT (Panhellenic Federation of Greek Broadcasting Unions), submitted a memorandum to the Council of the State, about the non-implementation of the decision that the government has been blatantly ignoring for 17 days now, so that the ERT transmitters open and a full radio-television programme can be provided. The employees also met with the Secretary General of KKE (Greek Communist Party), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, who expressed once again his solidarity with the ERT employees and the firm position that the Legislative Act, which led to the closing of ERT and massive lay-offs of the employees and which, for as long as it is active, paves the road for lay-offs in the whole broader public sector, must be abolished here and now. Already, the Greek Defense Systems are next, as well as other public sector entities, as the Secretary General of KKE stated. Mr. Koutsoubas noted that KKE disagrees with the government proposals about the transitional scheme, because “it will become the means for new lay-offs, for the violation of the employees’ rights and for an unfavourable change of a series of employment relationships and conquests, that the employees in the state radio-television sector have”. He also underlined that “the state television must open here and now, securing the rights of all employees, with no lay-offs”.
On his side, the president of POSPERT, Panayiotis Kalfayiannis, informed Mr. Koutsoumbas that “we shall continue steady and undeterred” and that “the employees of ERT will not become an “Iphigeneia” in the galley of the employment relationships violation in Greece”.
There has been a meeting with a delegation from PASOK, but they are moving along the same route with the government proposal.
There was also a proposal submitted by SYRIZA, to establish a Commission of Inquiry, asking for the Parliament to investigate “the extremely damaging for democracy and public interest actions, acts and omissions, of anyone responsible, related to the attempt to violently abolish ERT and prevent the public radio-television from operating and broadcasting all over the country, as well as the direct violation of the constitutional frame, with which the sudden death of public radio-television has been scheduled”.
Finally, the employees demand from the GOVERNMENT of two PARTIES, ND and PASOK, WHICH, 1 YEAR AGO WERE REJECTING Mr. Mosialos’s plan, not to proceed to a new coup by bringing it as a bill to the parliament, especially with the “urgency” procedure, and they continue demanding the constitutional legitimacy to be implemented at last, as the global community also demands!
The employees remain steady at the position that they are not accepting any transitional period and continue the fight for ERT to open now, with a full programme, as if it had not been closed for even a day, without lay-offs, with no rights lost.
TOMORROW, Thursday 4/7, at 20:30 the PANEPIROTIKI AND THE PANEPIROTES ON ERT are organising a big concert for ERT, taking their turn in the incessant musical “relay race” of support to the ERT fight that started on the 11th of June and continues still!
With musical companies from Epirus, singers, polyphonic and choirs, but also dancing, they are participating in this call for solidarity, in a fight so critical for all of us.
“The PANEPIROTIKI, since the first moment, the time of the abominable governmental decision to close ERT, has manifested with a unanimous resolution of its Board, its outright opposition, analyzing the importance and offer of ERT also to Epirus and its diaspora all over the world. Thanks to ERT, for all these years, our people abroad had been watching the “EPIRUS PERSON’S PIE” all over the world. It is time we give them something small in return for their support, in the generous Epirus way!
In this continuous solidarity concert, the people from Epirus are the first to take on a whole evening, because, we know it, we from Epirus, WE CAN!”
PARTICIPANTS:
PETROLOUKAS HALKIAS
NIKOS FILLIPIDES
SAVAS SIATRAS
GIORGOS MERANTZAS
ANTONIS KYRITSIS
EPIRUS COMPANY OF THODORIS GEORGOPOULOS
TRADITIONAL CHOIR OF THE PAN-EPIRUS CONFEDERATION OF GREECE
POLYPHONIC ENSEMBLE HAONIA
“LALITADES”
GIORGOS KOTSINIS
COMPANY OF TASSOS MAGLARAS
POLYPHONIC OF AETOPETRA, IOANNINA
ELIAS KONTIS
KOSTAS MITSIS
POLYPHONIC ENSEMBLE OF EPIRUS, OF VANGELIS KOTSOS
KOSTAS LEONDIDES
POLYPHONIC SONG LABORATORY OF PANEPIROTIKI
FOR POSPERT
The President The Secretary General
Panayiotis Kalfayiannis Tassos Avratoglou