Your solidarity with the newspaper employees “The dawn”after the suspension of the diary, said International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
Specifically, in their announcement they speak of the “sudden closure” of the daily Avgi “by SYRIZA, its main shareholder, without prior notice, after 72 years of operation”.
“The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-FJJ) expresses full solidarity with AUGIS employees and joins its voice with that of the Daily Newspaper Editors’ Union of Athens (ESHEAA) in condemning the “sudden death” of the daily edition of historic newspaper and the impact of the decision on its employees.
On 25 June, AWGI staff were informed at 4pm by the Board of Directors of the decision of the President of SYRIZA to close the daily publication the following day for “financial reasons”. It was argued that the suspension of the daily would allow more resources to be spent on the Sunday edition and the website “avgi.gr”. This decision concerns a total of fifty journalists and about twenty employees of other specialties”, they report.
The Boards of Directors of the Daily Newspaper Editors Union of Athens (ESHEAA), the Daily Newspaper Employees Union of Athens (EPIEA) and the Daily and Magazine Technicians Union of Athens (ETIPTA) have decided to declare a 24-hour strike, from 6 o’clock. from June 26th until 6am. on June 27th in the newspaper “AVGI” and on the website “avgi.gr”.
“We had no idea about the closure”
“When we found out about the suspension, which came into effect the following day, we were shocked. We had no idea about the closure, it was planned without consultation or information. They gave us no information or guarantee about our jobs. in the future. All we want now is a guarantee of job security and the possibility to do our work,” Nikos Morfonios, AVGIS journalists’ representative at ESIEA, told EOD. “In our opinion, the closure is clearly a political decision. They want to silence the voice of the left”, added Morfonios.
“The SYRIZA leader made an unprecedented decision in the historic newspaper, without notifying workers or unions. Although they will maintain the Sunday edition, the future of the historic newspaper and its collaborators is unknown”, said Maria Antoniadou, President of ESIEA.
In a statement, the ESIEA highlighted that “similar attempts have been made in the past, but were met with strong backlash from workers and any plans to suspend the issue were thwarted.”
Continuous 24-hour strikes
According to AVGI, the newspaper’s Board of Directors also legally acknowledged in 2017 a debt of 800,000 euros to workers, in arrears of wages paid over the past 15 years. Nikos Morfonios explained that the amount had increased by 300,000 euros since 2017. The workers said they would go on continuous 24-hour strikes, at least until Friday, June 28th.
“Such a disruption of the daily publication of the landmark publication, without due respect for labour rights, is a blatant attack on AWGI workers and raises concerns about media pluralism. We call on the SYRIZA leadership to reconsider its position, consult transparently with trade unions and workers and ensure that their labour rights are respected, also committing to repay the debt,” IOD and EOD stated.