What the «mainstream journalists» will be quick to label an «unfortunate incident» in Aspropyrgos is, in reality, a crystal-clear, textbook case of an employer’s crime. Two workers are performing electric welding next to propane tanks. Why? Because safety costs time and money, while a worker can be easily replaced at no cost. The sparks caused the initial ignition. And because modern Greek business culture loves to take risks at the expense of others, a tanker truck was parked right next to it—supposedly empty, but filled with the flammable remnants of greed. The second explosion was simply the natural consequence of capitalist barbarism.
The result? Eleven people injured, with three of our fellow citizens on ventilators in critical condition. A 41-year-old and a 54-year-old are currently battling burns covering 90% of their bodies. Just imagine: 90% of burned flesh, all so that the path to «development» can continue unimpeded.
Has human life always been valued as expendable material—provided, of course, that it belongs to the class of those who produce wealth and not to those who reap its benefits? Eleven people were injured, with three of our fellow citizens on ventilators in critical condition.
Here, however, the responsibility of the individual employer ends, and the heavy, unbearable political responsibility of the New Democracy government begins. What we witnessed today is not due to some legal loophole, but to the deliberate, systematic dismantling of every oversight mechanism by the state itself. With the blessing of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Labor Inspectorate has been transformed into a toothless, decorative entity—a phantom «independent authority» that exists only on paper so as not to inconvenience the party’s financial backers. Inspections have been replaced by «individual responsibility,» and safety protocols by the domestic oligarchy’s «let’s just wing it» approach.
When 460 fires break out in an area like Aspropyrgos within two years, talking about «misfortune» is political fraud. This is a deliberate government choice to turn industrial zones into lawless ghettos, where not a single fire hydrant exists—just for show. The Mitsotakis government has given employers a blank check to sacrifice human lives in order to maintain the economy’s competitiveness. A worker’s life is valued at less than an automatic fire suppression system.
The utter absurdity of the bureaucratic state was revealed once again in a time of crisis. After the first explosion, no evacuation protocol was followed. As a result, 8 of the 11 workers were injured in the second, larger explosion. And what did the state do? It dialed the infamous «112» to shirk its responsibility. Instead of state intervention, instead of an immediate, organized evacuation, it took the self-sacrifice of members of the local labor center who voluntarily entered the flames to save their colleagues. The «bureaucratic state» knows only how to send self-serving text messages, leaving society to burn for three hours.
But don’t worry, our bourgeois «democracy» is not in danger. You see, none of the victims were New Democracy politicians or even relatives of some well-known parasite. None of the perpetrators were «phantom terrorist» that would prompt the TV inquisitors to come out in force and fly into a hysterical rage, condemning violence «no matter where it comes from.» No Kyranakis will wear a T-shirt, and no serious discussion will be launched on social media by the professionals of state sensitivity.
To the system, these eleven workers are assets, just like bottles, tools, and burned-out trucks. If one of them gets fired, the labor market has an abundant «reserve» to replace him. What follows is predetermined and deeply cynical: some out-of-court settlement, a pittance in compensation if the lawyer is «shrewd,» and government propaganda will continue to boast about the growth figures.
In contrast to their cynicism—which counts profits on the backs of charred bodies—there is our world. The world of working people, who, amid the flames of Aspropyrgos, did not look for ways to save themselves, but rushed in to pull their colleagues out alive. This solidarity is our strength, our living hope. Because no matter how hard they try to turn us into disposable numbers, we keep our humanity alive.
Our working-class brothers and sisters who are fighting right now in the hospitals are not alone. It’s just that this much-vaunted «engine of growth» doesn’t run on oil, gentlemen of the government. It burns human blood. And because our blood is not fuel for your profits, the more your engine continues to wipe us out, the more our people will rage, unite, and ultimately triumph, reducing your macabre plans to rubble. So that everyone may always return home safe and sound.
