Resignation of all previous managers
Common wealth for all.
For this reason, everyone that sees this should also fight the same way we do.
When production stopped in June, we, as technicians, started
the maintenance of the machines.
At this point all the machinery is in good condition.
I will feel better not only if this factory starts working
but also if we do the same in other factories as well.
I wish to stress this.
We fight
so that our families can live in dignity.
We can run this business.
Since they cannot, we can.
YOU CANNOT? WE CAN! A film about the struggle of the workers of Viomihaniki Metalleftiki (Vio.Me.)
For 18 months now we have been struggling
to take over the factory.
Here we plan the shifts on a 24-hour basis.
we guard the factory as there are some materials inside that can be taken.
We guard it so that we can get our money back
and be able to run the factory afterwards,
to get it in our hands.
We are part of the company-group Filkeram Jonson
that consists of three companies.
The parent company is Filkeram, Johnson tiles
and Viomihaniki Metalleftiki in which I work
which was the company that produced building materials,
sealants, tile adhesives and relevant material
and the third company, Ippokambos, that produced special tiles.
If you have a look, you will see that we produced great stuff.
You cannot imagine how amazing it was.
For this reason, I feel sorry that they abandoned this factory
with all these products and materials we can produce and sell
and with all this great demand for them. It is a pity.
The story is that, in 1967, Filkeram was a very dynamic company
but in time it managed to become indebted with more than 35 million euros.
At this point, the subsidiary company Viomihaniki Metalleftiki was asked to help out.
So, in 2009 and 2010, Filkeram took loans of more than 2.700.000 euros
from its subsidiary Viomihaniki Metalleftiki (BIO.ME.).
These loans were never paid back and
VIOME neither went bankrupt nor made any other move.
They just abandoned the factory and the management resigned from the company.
The shares of VIOME remained at the parent company Filkeram and could not be exploited.
The struggle began because there were problems.
It was not like this from the beginning.
We have to mention that the union was founded in 2006.
It always participated in the struggles and joined the strikes.
We could say that the union had a class orientation
but did not have the revolutionary attitude that it has today.
This started when they suddenly stopped paying us
or when they started delaying our payment, cutting benefits,
when certain things started happening.
As a first reaction, we went to the Labor Inspectorate and filed a complaint.
This did not have an effect.
Then we started the struggle on our own.
The first thing we did was work stoppages and strikes.
But during the work stoppages we decided
- as during these work stoppages we also held general assemblies -
that all workers should participate in the decision-making process
and take responsibility for the decisions.
So, we decided to almost abolish the union board and to act directly
through general assemblies.
There we decided to close the entrance so that the products cannot go in and out,
in order that we could come into a conflict with the management
and they retreated a bit and agreed to pay us.
After giving the first two, three instalments, they stopped.
Of course, the nice result of this was
that also the people that were closer to the management of the company
came closer to the union because they saw that there was indeed a problem
and that there was no intention to pay us back
or to reach a reasonable compromise.
At that point, as I told you, the composition also changed...
we took bigger decisions, more class oriented, more revolutionary.
in July 2011 the colleagues of Filkeram Johnson
closed the entrance completely, as the company owed them money as well.
When they heard about the entrance being shut down, there were orders like "get up as many as you can,
as many loads as you can manage... send them all."
We had orders like these.
We had about 12 containers for export to Cyprus
for which the management had made sure
that we did not have the right materials to produce them
and in practice we were cutting corners.
During the strike we made in July we met with the employer
and they said that the factory cannot work
as the entrance is closed, the main entrance.
We responded "Do something, these are your employees at the main entrance, they want to be paid."
"Pay them so that the main entrance opens."
The management did not take any responsibility
to run the factory, to open the entrance
or do anything else and shifted its responsibilities on us.
They said you should open the entrance.
Obviously we did not intend to confront our colleagues from Filkeram.
We did what we found reasonable.
We have won all the court cases so far and obviously they (the ex-owners) have no argument.
The management, the ex-owners have resigned completely, they have no rights.
We have confiscated everything here, from ready-made products to raw materials.
The machinery is at the stage of final confiscation.
On this basis, we say that at this moment whatever is in the factory belongs to us.
Obviously, the decisions of the general assembly are the most crucial that were taken
within the period we are talking about, since July 2011.
Then, we gradually started discussing
how we could run the factory without the management
and we gradually reached the relevant conclusions.
We had also here somebody from Argentina
who had participated in the movement of the occupied factories in Argentina,
and had taken part in several workplace occupations.
He shared a lot of experience with us and we realised we have many things in common
with people that are several thousand kilometres away.
We have to say that capitalism wherever it is, is exactly the same.
What he particularly made us understand is that being united
is the most important factor in order to continue
fighting and make this struggle successful.
On the issue of unity he was very helpful, as from that moment on
many colleagues who were reluctant about joining the struggle, made up their minds.
We have to say that already from the second general assembly onwards
there was a policy of the union and the general assemblies
to create a solidarity fund.
This fund was created in the second general assembly
and it was decided that 65% of the contribution should be directed there.
In this way, we put together a relatively good sum of money and we managed during all this period
to help the people that were most in need.
We should not think of help in terms of financial support but rather
in terms of making sure that these people had the basics, had something to eat.
This we managed to do. During this period we also created another fund,
namely, a fund from the proceeds of recycled material.
In the way the company was operated it produced some garbage
but we thought that 65-70% of this garbage could be recycled.
So, before problems could arise we proposed to the owners
to take over the management of the garbage and the owners agreed.
The garbage was paper, plastic, aluminium... and later the big bags.
This created a small income for us
but the most important thing is that
we recycled more that 30-35 tons of paper,
6 tons of plastic and we have not managed yet to recycle the aluminium.
There are still 500 kilos aluminium inside.
We did all this to collect some money before the problems could arise and to be prepared
for whatever comes. We did not know beforehand that we would reach this point,
but we are glad that this money existed and could help us out.
Production in the area of Thessaloniki has been reduced
- whatever they and their numbers might claim -
we say that production has been reduced by more than 50%.
There are nearly no factories in operation.
If you go to the industrial area,
you will only see ghost buildings and nothing more,
and people waiting outside to get their money.
This is what is happening. We are not asking for something more, something more substantial
not something more in financial terms.
What we suggest is that these factories that are abandoned
and are becoming ghost buildings, this should not be happening.
The workers should get in, take them over and run them differently.
We want to get the engines running again
and obviously to start the distribution of the products using alternative routes.
Our ambition is to do this not only in a single factory.
If this remains a single case where a factory is run by workers,
then we cannot achieve many things.
The best it can achieve is to get incorporated in the whole system as a cooperative business.
We want to go a bit further,
we want to get other workers with similar ideas on this issue a bit closer.
We do not claim that our way is a panacea.
What we say is that workers can take over the factories and run them
But under which operational model?
The workers will find this out themselves.
We have started a solidarity caravan that began in Thessaloniki with a concert and a demonstration
and now we are heading to Larissa where an informational public event will take place
and then we will go to Volos where a demonstration and an event for Vio.Me. will take place.
On Sunday, we will head towards Athens where a concert will take place at Propylaia
and on Monday morning there will be a demonstration towards the ministry where we will request
that the minister accepts our demand, which is to approve the operational model of the factory as a cooperative of workers.
Struggle and solidarity caravan for the struggle of the workers of Viomihaniki Metalleftiki.
If they cannot, we can!
NO PEACE WITH THE BOSSES!
VICTORY TO THE STRUGGLE OF VIO.ME.
WITH SELF-MANAGEMENT OF PRODUCTION!
I come from Thessaloniki, from the Open Initiative of Solidarity and Support to the struggle of the workers of Vio.Me.
We came all the way to Athens after stopping in many other cities with the Struggle and Soliarity Caravan
to support the struggle of the workers of Vio.Me for self-management of their factory,
for taking their lives into their own hands and putting an and to the deceit of the bosses and the state
so they will be able not only to ensure subsistence,
but also to pave the way for the workers' movement to struggle for what is ours.
We have publicly asked for support from unions and grass-roots collectives.
We sent emails where we found the relevant email addresses and we got some response.
At this point we can say that solidarity has actually started to work.
Solidarity not only towards the material needs of colleagues, but solidarity also on how to proceed further,
how to run the factory better. Under a relevant guidance and ideas
from people that came close to us, we reached a point where we have a better idea on how to run the factory.
This means that solidarity is not only on the basis of how to get help
and how to ensure at a first phase what we call subsistence, but solidarity goes a bit further:
how to operate the factory and distribute the products we make using different methods
through the grass-roots movements and solidarity. And it seems that this type of solidarity
can be guaranteed by people that are in solidarity with us and are far away
and not a solidarity of the type of sending us some goods... we know that the postal costs
are higher than the value of the goods that they are sending.
So, we have built this type of solidarity and we think that it is based on the right principles.
Solidarity does not only come from Greece but comes also from other places.
We have found people that are in solidarity with us in Copenhagen, in Vienna there
is a solidarity group, in Australia, people from many places around the world
email us saying that they are in solidarity.
This gives us courage: not only the thought that these people will help us out,
but we also get courage when we realise that there are people who support us
and want to put into practice what we have as an idea.
I think that as the crisis intensifies in Greece,
as well as in the rest of Europe, since Spain, Italy, Ireland are experiencing the same conditions,
and ultimately the whole planet is threatened by this crisis of capitalism,
these dreadful conditions experienced by the majority of the people, will lead them
to the only solution they have available: assume the control of production themselves.
Therefore, I think that this struggle will not be reduced just to Vio.Me.
The Solidarity Initiative inThessaloniki is supporting us in a very good way
by helping us in organising marches,
public events, concerts and parties for fundraising
as well as in making our struggle known to more people.
This is the Solidarity Initiative's main achievement
since they have stood by us and encouraged us in difficult moments,
such us in July 2012, when we were in a desperate sitution, they encouraged us
and this had the effect not only that some people became involved in our struggle,
but also that the general assembly became more united and there was more participation:
a greater participation in the marches, in the struggle, direct action and events,
by all workers, since they realised that what we are struggling for is not just our own aspiration
but it is shared with several other people around us.
This gives us strength to carry on with more optimism.
The workers of Vio.Me. can be victorious, as long as they have on their side
the working class, the workers and the unemployed of this country.
We want to form a big workers movement that will struggle for everything they need and achieve it.
The workers of Vio.Me. cannot change the world by themselves.
But nothing can change unless struggles such as the one at Vio.Me.
are supported and helped by the social majority affected by the crisis.
We cannot expect anything from the media or from the legislators,
and neither from the corrupt system and parliamentarism.
I come from Alexandroupoli, there is also a Solidarity Initiative to Vio.Me there,
we did a public event that was successful and many people support this in our city.
I am here for the caravan, and I believe the only way forward is self-management,
which can be succesful and can emancipate the whole of the working class
from this dire situation.
And this also applies to myself, since as a student I belong to the next generation of unemployed.
This is what we are fighting for. I think it can be victorious.
It should be made known to everyone through the Vio.Me. struggle.
It is a great struggle precisely because they have the militance and patience
to go out there and fight for this cause.
Why do I participate in the Vio.Me. solidarity initiative?
I believe that there is no other perspective for our struggle
apart from declaring that we are the producers of wealth and we should also manage production.
Nowadays there are no half-baked solutions such as demanding that the employers
give me something, as we were saying in the "good old days",
such as a wage raise or a collective agreement.
Of course we should fight for collective agreements,
but since they want everything for themselves,
we should also claim everything for ourselves.
We deserve to live our life with dignity,
and not just live a life of bare subsistence
and impoverishment, as they are proposing.
I think that this struggle should be backed by the whole of the working class,
that more struggles like Vio.Me. should emerge
and that across all working class struggles
we should propose the issue of workers' self-management.
We can do it without the bosses, and we should take everything in our hands,
through a radical, strong workers' movement.
The operational part of the workers' cooperative factory as we call it
is that the workers should immediately found a board that will manage the factory.
These workers-shareholders, as we call them, will own one share each
and will be able to control the board of directors with regular general assemblies.
We should point out that the members of the board have to be recallable by the workers' assembly.
Also, what we have decided is that these shares,
of course, will not be papers that you keep at home and say 'I am a shareholder',
but it will be a dividend that every participant-worker will be entitled to.
There will be no right to inherit these shares
so, nobody will be able to donate it to his son in the future or to a nephew
or, by doing exactly what we want to avoid, to collect more than one share.
Therefore, what we say about this issue is that
if someone retires or something happens to him,
his share will be returned to the assembly and the assembly will decide
that this share should be given to another participant
and of course to reimburse in a way the ex-owner
because if someone has reached this point, this means he has some problem.
We devised a program that we think is the correct one.
This is to take the company and run it
according to what we think that can be done.
We presented this program to the ministry and after reading it
they said that it is the most correct plan that has been made so far.
Of course, they have not given an official response to our request.
We are still waiting for their answer.
However, in repeated assemblies that have taken place after the meeting with the ministry,
we decided that we will put the factory in operation
whether we get the approval of the ministry or not.
Colleagues and comrades,
the general secretary of this Ministry responsible for this matter
has stated this is not in his competence and proposed
that we leave him all the details so he can forward the case.
We are sick and tired of these kinds of promises.
We rejected his offer and we delared we want a response right now.
He said he cannot give us one.
So what happened is that we have an appointment with another Ministry,
another responsible general secretary, so he gives us an answer.
There is obviously a question of what will happen with the product that we produce.
Our operational plan contrasts the one of the previous management
that had only 10-20 big clients, did business only with them
and used very expensive raw materials that did make an efficient final product.
I am referring to a widely known product
that is used in construction, in houses, by average households.
This product was expensive because
the ex-management made us use a raw material that not only did not make an efficient product
but was also very expensive. The reason for doing so, I have to tell you,
is that the ex-owners owned also the company handling this expensive raw material
and they forced us to use it to profit from it as well.
We decided that we are not going to use this material
which means that according to our estimations
the price of this glue that is used by the broad public will drop by 25%.
At the same time, this glue will be distributed to every warehouse
in contrast again with what the ex-management was doing
that was not distributing the product to warehouses. This product will reach every hardware store
It will then become affordable and accessible to everybody...
a cheap, affordable product for the people.
We also say that we are not going to stop doing business with the old clients
if they still want to work with us.
Furthermore, we will also start looking towards the Balkan countries
because, as we know, these countries,
our closest neighbours, have a relative growth in construction.
Therefore, we think that we can direct large quantities of the product to them.
This does not come out of the blue.
Before the shutdown of the company, the management made a move,
a small opening was made towards these countries with a particular aim.
Of course, it was a short-term move without aiming to broaden the market of the company.
Nevertheless, huge orders were placed in a short period of time.
Thus, we are optimistic that we can make it.
-Were you always that united? Even when the factory was still in operation?
-Of course! From the very first day!
We fight for ourselves and for our future.
I fight because I bring up children.
We fight for a better future for everybody,
and everybody should come together, go in the streets, struggle.
Till now we were staying at home, we were ignorant.
I see that there are more people that are trying and are showing us the way and this is good.
What we say is that we, the workers of VIO.ME., have made a start
but we do not rely just on this. More factories, commercial companies, multinationals will follow.
Then, the farmers will start organizing production according to the needs of the poor,
making sure that nobody misses out.
We also say that the workers of VIO.ME., colleagues and fellow campaigners, are a handful of people.
They are just like a handful of snow.
We will make a snowball out of it and we will throw it.
We will throw it off the cliff and it will start to roll down
and as it rolls down it will grow by getting more snow, and more, and more
and as the ball grows and becomes even bigger
and collects more snow and attaches on it workers, unemployed,
housewives, students, farmers... and of course solidarity...
solidarity will make sure the ball does not crash and break
so that it reaches the bottom of the cliff unharmed
and it has become as large as the earth...
Only then, colleagues and fellow campaigners we will be able to say that we have won.
International Site of Solidarity to the Struggle of Vio.Me.: viome.org
Production: Diakoptes diakoptes.blogspot.com
English subtitles: ReINFORM www.reinform.nl / Thessaloniki Solidarity Initiative