We, the workers at Teleperformance, are calling for a demonstration at the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday 5 September.

We are joining forces with our colleagues from Labour Centres, Federations and unions in the telecommunications and IT sectors, as well as all other sectors, students, farmers, the self-employed and pensioners.

At Teleperformance, we have not seen a pay rise since 2010; even the increases granted by the bourgeois state are absorbed by the company in the form of bonus cuts, and our wages are not even enough to cover the basics.

In a sector where the vast majority of us work from home and bear the costs of working from hom, such as air conditioning and for ergonomic equipment.

All previous governments in recent years have passed the legislative framework that has given monopolies free rein, allowing large companies such as Teleperformance, Concentrix, TTEC and Foundever to make our daily lives a nightmare.

We won’t be fooled with crumbs!

We have nothing to expect from the government’s promises, from the ‘vouchers’, the ‘baskets’ and the announcements – a farce that has already been wiped out by taxes and rising food and energy prices, before they even reach our pockets. 

Every year the same ‘promises’, and every year we pay the price more and more dearly. Because whatever crumbs they give with one hand, they take back many times over with the other, through price rises and taxes.

These ‘national objectives’ mean deeper entanglement in the imperialist plans of the US, NATO and the EU, which make the people a target for reprisals and drag them into the abyss of war for the profits of corporate conglomerates. All the while they claim there are no ‘money trees’ for Health and Education.

The war economy is not just about cannons, frigates, aeroplanes and NATO deals. It is also the daily assault we face in every aspect of our lives. It is their demand that we work longer hours for less pay; it is the 13-hour shifts, the ‘flexible’ working hours, unpaid overtime, the undermining of collective agreements, starvation wages, and repression.

It is the undeclared war on the working class that is unfolding within workplaces. The deaths and injuries of workers, such as the crime at ‘Violanda’, are now an everyday occurrence. 

We are not talking about accidents or ‘bad luck’; we are talking about murders, crimes committed by employers with the backing of the state, born of intensification, the absence of collective agreements and health and safety measures, state inspections, staff shortages, gruelling working hours, and the pressure to get the work done faster and more cheaply. It is this very same profit-driven policy that treats workers’ lives and safety as a ‘cost’, so as not to undermine the competitiveness and profits of corporate groups.

For the people to breathe, capitalists must be defeated. Struggle in every workplace to overturn their profit-driven system.

Otherwise we will continue to live on crumbs, consumed by anxiety with short-term contracts lasting just a few months for years on end through payroll companies, depriving us of the chance to take our leaves properly, but also as a means of exerting pressure to increase the Intensification of work through the constant threat of dismissal. 

If we do not overturn them we will continue to live in fear and isolation in our homes, under pressure, suffering from musculoskeletal problems and with no certainty about tomorrow.

The alternative is to strengthen the ranks of the Union, fight collectively to meet our contemporary needs and help us realise that we can live the life we deserve today in a society that does not breed barbarism, wars, misery and poverty for the profits of the few.

There is no middle ground; there are no saviours or ‘progressive’ governments that can guarantee both.

For the tremendous advances in technology, Artificial Intelligence, and the progress of science will either continue to be exploited as tools for the further exploitation of workers and the profitability of monopolies, or they will be harnessed for the benefit of society, to reduce working hours, the elimination of heavy labour, and the protection of our health and safety.

Everyone to Thessaloniki on 5 September for the major nationwide rally.

For information on travelling to Thessaloniki with the union, please contact contact@setep.gr