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UNI Global Union, the ITUC and ETUC are united in calling for the Troika and the Greek government to get back to the table and find a way to rebuild Greece through a sensible debt re-scheduling and relief system.

UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “Greece must not be allowed to carry the can for collective international political and corporate failure. The roots of this Greek tragedy are in the corporate greed of the 2007/8 crisis and the misguided Troika austerity policies that followed and have killed off the shoots of any possible recovery in the south. Those austerity measures have failed the Greek people who are now facing bank closures, and a real fear that democracy is failing them in the place where it was born.”

UNI Europa Regional Secretary, Oliver Roethig added, “The scenario being played out in Greece now has serious implications for the whole of the European Union. If Greece is forced out of the EU it will send shockwaves through Europe and potentially destabilise other economies.

“We stand by our Greek affiliates who have been hit hard by the EU austerity policies but also by the Troika’s attack on labour and social rights. We are also concerned about the humanitarian crisis which will become even more catastrophic  if Greece is pushed out of the Eurozone. UNI Europa and its affiliates appeal to the EU to find a solution that puts the well-being of the Greek people first.”

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said the closure of the Greek banks, until at least after the 5 July referendum on demands set by the Troika, underlines the folly of putting ideology ahead of economic sense.

ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow said, “Years of failed austerity policies imposed on Greece have impoverished millions and actually worsened the debt crisis. The Troika’s recipe has been a disastrous failure, and risks exposing not only Greece but potentially other Eurozone countries to profit-gouging by global financiers and speculators. Intransigence on all sides needs to give way to a re-start of negotiations which focus squarely on helping Greece rebuild its economy and thereby reinforcing the Eurozone as a whole. Debt re-scheduling and debt relief are central to achieving that objective.”

Bernadette Ségol, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary, has called on the EU and the IMF to “think long and hard, show more flexibility and reach a compromise with Greece which includes debt rescheduling and debt relief, and finance for social emergencies and reviving investment."