Workers at the private railway company TRAINOSE in Greece refused to carry NATO and US weapons. While the workers said in a statement, “We will not be complicit in the passage of the war machine through the territory of our country,” it is stated that TRAINOSE employees, who refused to participate in the technical supply of trains carrying NATO tanks in the direction of Alexandroupolis port, were threatened with dismissal.
According to the news of Greek 902.gr, the boss of the railway company made statements to the workers such as “You don’t care what the trains carry, it’s your job and you have to go” or “The company contract states that the worker will be called to work according to need”. On the other hand, the workers used the following expressions in their statements:
“We railroad workers, by transporting NATO war materials, are working to ensure that the country is not involved in dangerous schemes for the transportation of goods that can be used for cheap and quality transportation of the people and their needs, and for the people.
The real solidarity for the Ukrainian people today is the struggle: not using the railway for the transport of military equipment to foreign countries and withdrawing the trains used for this purpose to the depots.”
Threatened with dismissal
On the other hand, it was stated that the employees of Thessaloniki engine room were pressured to go to Alexandroupoli for about two weeks. While it was stated that the employer stated which employee should go at the beginning, it was reported that when the workers were rejected, it pressured the workers to “find each other”. Again, when no one agreed to “voluntary” transportation, workers began to be threatened with dismissal.
A mechanic ordered to be in Alexandroupoli today made it clear that he would not “move to his boss” and stressed that “railroad workers cannot be used and complicit in transporting NATO ammunition to the outskirts of Ukraine”.
While the unions intervened in the face of this development, the unions in Thessaloniki demanded no participation in the transportation.
Earlier, the New York Times wrote that the arms transfers requested by the Ukrainian President Zelenskiy will begin soon. Speaking to the newspaper, the source refused to say the amount of tanks to be sent or from which countries they would come.
Action from the communists: They ‘decorated’ tanks
On the other hand, earlier today, members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) “decorated” US-NATO tanks. This action protested the imperialist war in Ukraine and the US turning the port in Evros into a “death base”.
According to the news on 902.gr on the subject, Alexandroupoli, the main transit point for US-NATO troops to Eastern Europe, has been anchored by British and US battleships for weeks. Two more US battleships are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Demonstrations were also held on the railways in Attica and Piraeus by the communist party and trade unions in the country.
