57 / 181
49
Greece have had 6 years of recession which other than after world war one has not happened!
Leadership reflects the quality of the people as they vote them in. but the media has diminished the
personalities of the leaders – they are now so exposed you don’t get charismatic leaders and it
destroys the person and their values.
Unemployment is at an all-time high;
72% young women
60% young men
27% nationally (30% if self-employed are included)
Greece has got a long and rocky road ahead of them and it is going to get a lot worse before it gets
better. As we were leaving the metro and rail services were being closed for a day as the
government couldn’t afford to pay the staff. This was being followed by a national strike over the
changes to pensions and taxes that are being proposed which are simply unliveable and will result in
more suicides, higher unemployment and greater poverty in a country that is already on its knees.
The Europe Union is not the institution it once was. It was built upon a need for prosperity,
development and strength through democratic processes for the member states and it has grown
into a corrupt, undemocratic monster that is focused on making the rich richer and the poor poorer.
One thing is for sure though we need to strengthen the trade union movement beyond our borders
and fight together for the rights of all our workers and to force the refugee crisis to be dealt with
properly by fixing the source of the problem not sweeping thousands of desperate people under the
carpet like they are a burden someone else should deal with.
Dami Benbow, Deanne Ferguson, Bindu Paul, Sarah Woolley.
5
China.
5.1
A group of eight leading Chinese trade Unionists from Guandong province, the most
industrious in China responsible for 10% of China’s GDP, visited Quorn on 16th January at
short notice. They presented us with a wonderful silk embroidery of the Silk Road which will
make a beautiful picture at the hotel.
5.2
As the Chinese delegations always do they invited us to visit them and are keen to invite
affiliates to their country.
5.3
There is 90% trade union membership in their region and they have 30 million members.
They have 3,000 full time lawyers in their region working for the trade unions. A big part of
their work is looking after migrant workers into their region from other parts of China.
6
Venezuela
6.1
The GFTU was pleased to assist with a tour for two leading trade unionists at a critical time
for Venezuela.
6.2
The contribution made by Wills Rangel, the leader of the most powerful trade union in
Venezuela the Oil Workers and their TUC when he visited Quorn, has been translated by Dr
Francisco Dominguez as follows: