Communist Liberation (participating in ANTARSYA .) Announcement about the national general strike in Greece on 28 of February, two years after the crime in Tempi.
We Have No Oxygen – Justice for Tempi Train Crash Victims!
On February 28, 2025, Greek public and private sector federations and trade unions are organizing a political strike to demand justice and to stop the government cover-up of the fatal train accident in Tempi, exactly two years ago, on February 28, 2023. Under the pressure of the huge demonstration on January 26, the federations called for a general strike, while the Greek government continues to cover up its responsibilities. It is fabricating evidence, interfering with the judicial investigation in every possible way, and attempting to justify its role in the disappearance of evidence, which it has systematically carried out since the early hours of the crime.
The railway tragedy in Tempi, which claimed 57 lives, was a disaster foretold—a crime of capitalism and the governments that privatized and dismantled Greek Railways. The company was sold in 2017 for just €45 millionto the Italian Ferrovie Group. Privatization was a key demand of the EU/IMF, and the company had previously been broken into smaller entities to facilitate its sale. This process led to the chronic underfunding of the railway system. In the eyes of its private owners, railway safety became an unnecessary luxury. Shockingly, 55% of the railway network had no signaling or remote control systems.
The EU and IMF pressured Greek governments to impose drastic cuts in staffing and operating costs. Two years after the tragedy, the Greek government continues to cover up the investigation. Leaked audio recordings revealed that 30 people survived the crash but died gasping for air while calling for help. The collision triggered a fireball that incinerated many victims, including those who were still alive and trapped in the wreckage. Meanwhile, there has been no investigation into whether the cargo train that struck the passenger train was carrying illegal materials and chemicals used for oil adulteration.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis initially denied that the cargo train was carrying hazardous chemicals, yet the crash site was quickly covered with stones and gravel. This blatant cover-up fueled mass protests on January 26, led by the Association of Relatives of Tempi Victims, under the slogan: “I have no oxygen.” Following unprecedented demonstrations across Greece, the government is now willing to sacrifice officials in a desperate attempt to survive. Under intense public pressure, the Prime Minister was forced to admit that he lacked sufficient evidence when he had previously dismissed allegations of illegal cargo as a “conspiracy theory.” However, in the days that followed, the government, state apparatus, and media attempted to discredit the evidence and manipulate the investigation. They even spread panic, claiming the strike would “threaten national stability,” and launched vicious smear campaigns against the victims’ families while violently repressing those fighting for justice.
The working class majority in Greece faces the daily consequences of the government’s anti-people policies: austerity, the privatization and degradation of public healthcare and education, and the slashing of social spendingto prioritize debt repayment, military armament, and Greece’s involvement in US-NATO war plans. The public is suffocating under the cover-ups—not only for Tempi but also for mass surveillance scandals, the state’s responsibility for the deaths of 600 refugees in the Pylos shipwreck, and the corruption that pervades the capitalist system.
It is clear that this government will not fall through the mechanisms of bourgeois parliamentary control—only mass public outrage and mobilization can force change.
Our Demands:
- No cover-up! Punish both the direct and moral perpetrators of the Tempi crime.
- A fully public railway system—safe and affordable for the people, not for profit.
- Public ownership of essential social services: healthcare, education, transport, energy, electricity, and water.
- End privatization! Abolish profit-driven public services and increase social spending.
