Workers Defy Public Broadcasting Closure In Greece:
Unions Launch General Strike
By Countercurrents.org
13 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org
A general strike is going on in Greece in protest at the conservative government's move to shut down state broadcaster ERT, Hellenic Broadcasting Corp, with the loss of nearly 2,700 jobs.
Greek journalist unions called the 24-hour strike, halting TV news on rival commercial channels. Trade unions and all Greek media are taking part in the 24-hour industrial action. The general strike – supported by the country's major unions – began at Wednesday-midnight (21:00 GMT Wednesday).
Riot police have been deployed in Athens as thousands of people have gathered outside ERT's headquarters to protest against the decision.
Soon after the closure the ERT employees took over the network’s headquarters on Tuesday night.
“From this time the ERT has passed to the control of workers, not management,” said former technical director of the company, Nick Michalitsis, speaking to the assembled workers on Radiomegaro.
As protest, journalists from ERT refusing to leave their posts have defied the government order to close it down. ERT remained on air via the internet via Ustream while thousands of protesters remained outside its headquarters north of Athens. ERT employees managed to keep the service going through the night and have continued broadcasting.
Journalists across all media are also calling for an indefinite protest
The closure is part of the latest public spending cuts imposed to meet the terms of the country's bailout deal. The decision to close ERT was announced during an inspection in Athens by officials from Greece's bailout creditors. The so-called "troika" of the EU, European Central Bank and IMF has been pressing the government to start a program to lay off civil servants.
Greek leftist opposition leader Alexis Tsipras earlier described the closure as "illegal". "Many times the word 'coup' is used as an exaggeration. In this case, it is not an exaggeration," he added.
The left-of-centre, pro-opposition newspaper I Avgi said in an editorial: "Samaras' choice culturally isolates the country from its European surroundings and abandons the crucial domain of information to the private capital."
In an editorial in right-of-centre, pro-government newspaper To Ethnos: "The taking of state TV channels off the air last night has caused a shock and, emotions apart, it has revealed in the most cruel way that black screens are not the solution... But this is totally different from a sudden shutting down of a public entity with so much history."
However, the conservative prime minister defended his decision.
The decision to close down ERT has also put strain on the country's governing coalition.
"We absolutely disagree with the government's particular decisions and management," the socialist Pasok party said in a statement.
The Democratic Left, another coalition partner, said restructuring ERT was necessary but should have taken place without shutting it.
The closure was also condemned by the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymos, who said that ERT employees were being "sacrificed" to pay for decades of wasteful administration.
The Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union expressed "profound dismay" at the move. The EBU is on standby to step in and try and help ERT fully reopen.
The European Federation of Journalists said the shutdown of Greece's state broadcaster was "absurd".
EFJ president Mogens Blicher-Bjerregård said: "These plans are simply absurd. It will be a major blow to democracy, to media pluralism and to journalism as a public good in Greece, thus depriving citizens from their right to honest, level-headed and unbiased information. But it will also mean the loss of many journalists' jobs across the country."
The ERT closure announcement came after months of strikes by ERT employees in opposition to plans to restructure the broadcaster.
Greece has pledged to cut thousands of public-sector jobs as part of agreements under which it receives billions of euros in rescue loans from the EU and IMF.
ERT, which began broadcasting in 1938, ran three domestic TV channels, four national radio stations, as well regional radio stations and an external service, Voice of Greece.
It is believed to be the first time a state broadcaster in Europe has been closed down by its government in the post-war era, with the move attracting widespread condemnation from inside Greece and also overseas.
The executive order to close ERT must be ratified by parliament within three months but cannot be approved without backing from Samaras's minority coalition partners.
Source: guardian.co.uk, AFP, RT, BBC
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