The mission of experts sent by the troika to Athens, composed of members of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has recommended to the Greek Government that the labour market be made more flexible. This flexibility includes a reduction in the costs of dismissal and a prolongation of the working week from five to six days. The expert report indicates that measures should be taken such as reducing recruitment costs and making work schedules more flexible. Flexibility is precisely what the negotiations with the Athens Government, which involve a saving plan of EUR 11.6 billion, call for.

Capitalism represented by the troika is insatiable. The welfare state is crumbling in Greece and Portugal, and from now on also in Spain and Italy. They turn citizens into slaves to work, expand social defenselessness, precariousness and poverty, and cleanse banks without shame with public money. What is happening in Greece is what that capitalism wants to do in the Spanish state. Merkel’s visit to Madrid, a real sign of identity for savage and insatiable capitalism, must be seen in this context, beyond the empty words he spoke with his friend Rajoy. Rescues are not carried out without the compensations that affect the popular sectors. Meanwhile, in the absence of a policy of economic growth, unemployment has skyrocketed, such as poverty, precariousness and social exclusion. Pensioners will also see their incomes reduced from today. There is no reason for those affected, the social majority, to respond firmly to the general strike to be held in Hego Euskal Herria on 26 September.