The Greek judiciary has set five new dates for the forced liquidation of the former PHILKERAM JOHNSON AG group, on whose premises the reconquered and self-managed VIO.ME factory is located. The dates: Jun 13/20/27, September 19 and October 24, 2019. What follows is a statement by the Trade Union of VIOME Workers and the Thessaloniki Solidarity Initiative.

Originally published by Vio.me. Translated by Enough 14. Text on the image above: “The factories to those who work there”

On June 13, 2019, the forced auction of the company premises, on which the Viome factory is also located, will enter the next round. The reduced starting price increases the risk that the factory will be left behind as a scrap heap.

The grassroots union of VIOME workers and the solidarity networks that have supported this struggle for eight years now are once again facing a crisis situation. The next forced auction dates start on the 13th of June.

In the struggle to maintain our jobs and the survival of our families, we have managed to run the factory under workers’ control and self-management by means of our General Assembly.

We have managed to provide everyone with a small income and have not reached the point where we ask for crumbs and beg, with which the rulers fob us off in exchange for our human dignity.

We have managed to make the factory known throughout Europe and internationally; the result: 55% of the production being exported.

We have managed to keep the factory in operation for more than six years – it is not a dead horse like so many factories in this country now. In particular, it produces products that benefit society, environmentally friendly, high-quality products that are affordable for working families and the poor.

We managed to prevent the sale (and eviction) of the factory in the 15 previous auction dates, resisted together with our supporters, and demonstrated that we do not intend to accept a sale without a fight.

But what we have achieved in particular is the fact that, together with many others, we have set out to fight the injustice committed against the weak.

We went together on this journey to show that there are still people who do not step back from the exercise of any kind of domination and power.

We have managed to unite, to feel like comrades and to realize that we have to fight together so that our needs and demands are recognized as fundamental rights.

We also managed to keep the factory open to society by organizing hundreds of events that were enthusiastically supported by many people.

We turn to you, our colleague, to you, our comrade-in-arms, to you who have taken part with us in actions to show that we are capable of making the impossible possible.

To you who stood side by side with us in and around the courthouse and felt the tension while the clock ran out and no bidder had the nerve to appear in court. After each appointment, we called out the slogan: “Cops and judges, listen carefully, VIOME will remain in the hands of the workers”.

We are calling again, come with us to prevent the compulsory auction that will take place on Jun 13, 20 and 27, September 19 and October 24, 2019.

Stand by our side to keep alive the only project that gives us the right to still say, “You can’t? We can!” So that the experiment can also be put into practice by other factories.

Because we don’t need them to be saved, and they don’t need us to be broken.

Trade Union of VIOME Workers and the Thessaloniki Solidarity Initiative, May , 2019

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