ETUC open letter to EU Leaders

OPEN LETTER to:

·         EU Heads of States and Governments,

·         Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission,

·         Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament,

·         Donald Tusk, President of the European Council,

·         Xavier Bettel, President of the Council of the European Union,

·         Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank,

·         Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup,

·         Christine Lagarde, Director-General of the International Monetary Fund.

 

Dear Madam, dear Sir,

 

The events unfolding in Greece are of historic significance.  Solutions must be found to keep Greece in the Eurozone and in the European Union.  This requires political leadership, not a technocratic approach.

 

Greek people have voted against austerity, unemployment, and poverty that made Greek debt unsustainable.  They have not voted against the EU or against the Euro. 

 

We consider that this referendum is a clear signal that policies imposed during the last five years are socially unbearable and an economic failure.  People must not be penalised for the way they voted.

 

EU leaders have now an unavoidable responsibility to find a sensible compromise. The solution should not be technical or left to the ECB, it must be political.

 

We are convinced that EU leaders should think hard and long before pushing Greece out of the Eurozone. Now is the moment to show what a European Union means.

 

We are calling on you to resume negotiations in good faith with the aim of rapidly reaching a socially fair and economically sustainable agreement with the Greek government.  

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Bernadette Ségol

ETUC General Secretary

 

Reiner Hoffmann

DGB President

Ignacio Fernandez Toxo

ETUC President &CC.OO General Secretary

 

Yannis Panagopoulos

GSEE President

 

Frances O’Grady

TUC General Secretary

 

Rudy De Leeuw

FGTB President

Marie-Hélène Ska

CSC General Secretary

 

Candido Mendez

UGT-E General Secretary

Susanna Camusso

CGIL General Secretary

 

Erich Foglar

ÖGB President

Catelene Passchier

FNV Vice-President

 

Josef Středula

CMKOS President

 

Laurent Berger

CFDT General Secretary

Dimitar Manolov

PODKREPA President

 

Bente Sorgenfrey

FTF President

Eduardo Chagas

ETF General Secretary

 

Roger Mercatoris

Eurocop Vice-President

Oliver Röthig

Uni-Europa Regional Secretary

 

France Sponem Perez

ETUC Women’s Committee President

Signatories of this open letter are members of the ETUC Steering committee.

Additional signatures follow and will be updated:

- Philippe Martinez, CGT General Secretary;

- Marc Goblet, FGTB General Secretary;

- Luc Bérille, UNSA General Secretary;

- Philippe Louis, CFTC General Secretary;

- Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary;

- Martin Romer, ETUCE General Secretary;

- Jean-Claude Mailly, FO General Secretary;

- Fausto Durante, CGIL International Secretary;

- Zoe Lanara, GSEE International Secretary;

- Jim Boumelha, IFJ President;

- Ulrich Eckelmann, IndustriAll-Europe General Secretary;

- Leonard Barascu, CNSLR-Fratia President;

- Julio Salazar, USO General Secretary;

- Nicos Moyseos, SEK General Secretary;

- Annamaria Furlan, CISL General Secretary;

- Carmelo Barbagallo,UIL General Secretary;

- Michele Berti, IR.T.U.Cs Coordinating Committee President;

- Salvatore Marra, ETUC Youth Committee President;

- Harald Børsting, LO-DK President;

- Gabriele Bischoff, DGB Special Adviser;

- Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, LO-S President;

- Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary;