Enthusiasm among the struggling women cleaners of the Ministry of Economy, after the first statements of the new government that they will be reinstated back to their posts. This was the commitment of SYRIZA from the beginning of this struggle.
The women welcomed yesterday the new leadership of the Ministry with celebration and flags, while the new Minister of Economy stated that he will reduce the number of councilors in order to save money to reinstate the cleaners.
In her interview in the Radio STO KOKKINO 105,5 today, Evagelia Alexaki, one of the many emblematic fighters, said they will remain in their tent (occupation of the pavement) until they take in their hands the paper to return to work.
Questioned if she believed that this struggle would win, she replied, no, I didn’t believe it could win under the previous government, because they were absolutely intransigent with redundancies.
18 months in the struggle, 9 months in the street and 9 months in the tent, where they stayed in the night in shifts, to safeguard their space and their occupation, and with daily mobilizations, they proved what the struggle, the stubbornness and decisiveness really mean. In the heats of August and in the cold and snow of December and January, they did not leave their tent.
In their mobilisations, they had included many other issues, like the auctions of peoples houses where they went in the courts every Wednesday wherever there was such meeting, like the support for the Syrian refugees who had occupied the pavements opposite parliament house in December, and as in their presence in every mobilisation for this period of the 18 months. Their space and their tent they called Centre of the Struggle, which it really was. Many mobilisations and demonstrations ended in this place, where they went to express their solidarity.
We want to finish our struggle with a big celebration, said Evaggelia, where we are going to invite many people. But, a part of my soul will remain here.
The feminists expressed our solidarity in many ways from the first day, and we feel great satisfaction for this victory. Of course, they are many other workers redundant, and we expect the reinstatement of them all.
In this humble cleaning bucket which is held by women, in this devalued by the general ideology job because it is done by women, the 595 cleaners of the Ministry of Economy gave the value of struggle, of demand, of decisiveness, of victory.
Sissy Vovou