(en) Anarkismo.net: Greece, Against bosses' immunity by The Laid-off Workers of Metropolis Music Stores

Andreas Kouris will always find us in your way! ---- We are determined to continue the 
struggle we have been waging for the last two years, drawing strength from the solidarity 
that has been shown to us in practice during all this time by trade unions, workers? 
collectives and local assemblies. ---- During the last two years, we have been waging a 
hard, tiring and relentless struggle to take the money, wages and compensations, owed to 
us by big-shot entrepreneur Andreas Kouris, owner of MAD Entertainment group and former 
owner of the once-mighty Metropolis chain of music stores, which he took over and 
destroyed within three years, laying off 180 workers and closing down 13 stores.-- During 
all this time, we have had to cope with the inhuman, arrogant and, most importantly, 
provocative attitude of our former employer, who takes for granted that he can do business 
and get richer and richer to the detriment of his employees, in the most vulgar way 
imaginable: by leaving unpaid all those laid-off workers that he sent to unemployment, and 
by exploiting his debts towards them in order to expand his business activities.

In these two years, we have realized that Andreas Kouris is able to act the way he does 
because he feels sure about himself and believes that the system has his back. This is the 
reason why he has never accepted to meet us, he did not get unnerved by the fines imposed 
to him by the Labour Inspection Office, he outrageously ignored the three-party meeting in 
which had been called by then-Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Labour, and he has never 
set foot in any of the trials against him, some times without even sending an attorney to 
the courts, although he continues to get one conviction after another.

However, Andreas Kouris does not only count on the lengthy and favourable to employers 
judicial process for labour conflict in order to get away with it all. The fact that 
recently he has been doing business with the State, that there is a steady inflow of State 
advertisement to his MAD channel, as well as the generous ?bonuses? he has been granted 
through dirty donations by the Post Bank and the OPAP, reveal that Kouris has strong 
connections. This is proved by the support he has received by politicians that have 
performed and still perform major parts in the destruction of the country, including 
current Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the indescribable former Minister Michalis Liapis 
and former Minister of National Economy and Economics Georgios Alogoskoufis.

What is even more outrageous and doubly provocative is that in this case the State does 
business with an entrepreneur that owes money to? the State, has been temporarily 
imprisoned and still awaits trial for these debts. And yet, Kouris has been officially 
encouraged for the second consecutive time to organize the Eurovision ?Greek final?, 
through his MAD channel, thanks to a direct (uncontested) assignment by the Public 
Television ? a procedure completely opaque and even more scandalous than the one through 
which he had been assigned to organize last year?s event by former ERT?s Board of 
Administration, a few months before the government closed down ERT, laying off 2,500 workers.

Moreover, while Kouris claims that has ?no money? to pay us and gets rid of his assets the 
one after another, as he realizes that time is running out against him, he recently filed 
a lawsuit against us for ?criminal defamation?, in his effort to criminalize our struggle.

We are determined to continue the struggle we have been waging for the last two years, 
drawing strength from the solidarity that has been shown to us in practice during all this 
time by trade unions, workers? collectives and local assemblies.

In our belief that when injustice becomes the law, resistance becomes a duty, we are 
organizing another demonstration, and we call all those who supported our previous 
demonstrations and all those who believe that incompliant struggle is the only way 
possible to support us once again.

Two years of struggle and counting, until our final vindication!

The Laid-off Workers of Metropolis Music Stores

Related Link: http://ergazomenoimetropolis.blogspot.gr/