The Kalamata dock workers' strike ( el, Λιμενεργατικά της Καλαμάτας, , Kalamata dock-workers' events), was a strike of

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

's harbor workers in May 1934 that resulted in the intervention of the army and killing of five dock-workers and two other residents of the town.

Strikes of previous years in Kalamata

In October 1932 the

dockworkers A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

of the port of

asked to work in shifts so that all workers in the industry could earn some daily wages, but their request was not accepted by the port contractors and the workers went on strike. Clashes took place in which strikers were severely beaten by the police and strikebreakers. At the beginning of the following year, the dockworkers went on strike demanding that the ''Evangelistria'' rolling mill not operate so that they would not lose their jobs or at least those who would be fired would receive some compensation. In September 1933, there were fierce clashes between dockworkers and shipowners over the unloading of a ship. The climax of these conflicts was the murder of K. Kalogerakos, owner of a barge, by the president of the Union of Dockworkers, Apostolos Diamantopoulos.

Events of 1934

On April 26, 1934, a meeting was held in which representatives of the

Ministry of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

also participated, in which a plan was discussed to reduce the number of dockworkers by approximately 200 (as the rolling mill would be put into operation) and the establishment of a pension fund for those over 40 years of age, they would leave. But a dispute arose over the amount of compensation and the workers declared a strike for May 8. On this day the professionals of the city, to express their solidarity with the dockworkers, closed their shops. In the meantime, trade unionists from

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, who agreed with the proposal for the operation of the rolling mill, arrived in Kalamata; however, by decision of the general assembly of the dockworkers, the latter rejected the agreement and the Athenian trade unionists. Meanwhile, large-scale strikes occurred elsewhere in Greece: a strike in a cement factory in

Elefsina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

started on May 1, which eventually lasted two months, while in Omonoia and

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

there were clashes between strikers and the police. Tobacco workers went on strike in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

and

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

and the demonstrations reached large dimensions. In Kalamata, in the morning of May 9, a team of strikers tried to stop the functioning of the rolling mill and then the soldiers opened fired against them leaving five strikers dead and 10 injured. Afterwards, the strikers took the dead bodies of their comrades and carried them through the streets of the city, in a state of rage while cursing the murderers. Protestors threw rocks at the building of the

Bank of Athens Over time, two Greek banks have been named the Bank of Athens. Both had their headquarters in Athens, Greece. The first Bank of Athens was founded in 1893 and operated in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean until its acquisition by the National B ...

and entered the house of an employer causing damage. New clashes followed in which two more people died and three were seriously injured. The events were condemned by workers throughout Greece and several protests and strikes in solidarity with Kalamata's strikers occurred the following days.

Trial

In January 1935, a trial was held in Kalamata regarding the events of May of the previous year. However the ones sitting in the defendant's place where workers, 4 of whom were sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years of exile in

Agios Efstratios Agios Efstratios or Saint Eustratius ( el, Άγιος Ευστράτιος), colloquially Ai Stratis ( el, Άη Στράτης), anciently Halonnesus or Halonnesos ( grc, Ἁλόννησος), is a small Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea abo ...

References

{{coord missing, Greece History of Kalamata Massacres in Greece Riots and civil disorder in Greece 1934 in Greece May 1934 events Maritime strikes 1934 labor disputes and strikes 1934 riots Maritime incidents in 1934 Maritime incidents in Greece Massacres in 1934 Massacres of protesters in Europe 20th-century mass murder in Greece