A broad mobilisation of workers, trade unions, students and residents in Thessaloniki on 2 November prevented the eviction of an elderly, low-income couple from their home in the Kato Toumba district. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) supported the mobilisation, with party representatives joining the protest and calling for collective action against evictions and the loss of people’s homes.
KKE supports mass mobilisation to prevent eviction of elderly couple in Thessaloniki
According to 902.gr, the couple, aged 77 and 75, are pensioners and political refugees who returned to Greece from Czechoslovakia. Their apartment, at 64 Kappadokias Street, was auctioned in 2021 for €85,000 following a housing loan taken out by their son, for which the father had acted as a guarantor. The family has challenged the eviction through the courts, with an appeal still pending. According to reports, the hearing is scheduled for 7 March.
The attempted eviction began on Monday morning, when a bailiff arrived accompanied by police officers to carry out the procedure. Workers, trade unionists and other supporters had gathered outside the building, forming a human barrier and preventing the operation from proceeding.
The mobilisation was called by the Committee of Trade Unions Against Auctions. The KKE’s parliamentary representative Leonidas Stoltidis participated, alongside regional councillors S. Avramopoulos and G. Chavatzas and municipal councillor M. Konstantinidis, all elected with the party’s Laiki Sispirosi lists.
A neighbourhood mobilisation against evictions
The morning intervention was followed by a large rally and march through the streets of Kato Toumba in the evening. Trade unions, mass organisations, student associations and local residents joined the demonstration, responding to the committee’s call to defend the couple’s home.
The march also served to inform residents about the case and encourage wider participation in the campaign. Demonstrators raised the slogan “The people save the people’s homes!” and called for solidarity with families threatened by banks, funds and eviction procedures.
The couple’s son thanked the trade unions and all those who had come to their support. He stressed that the case was not an isolated family matter, pointing out that many people face similar situations but are often reluctant to speak publicly about the threat of losing their homes.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee of Trade Unions, Yiannis Kourmoulis called for another gathering outside the apartment at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 November, warning that a further attempt could be made to carry out the eviction. Supporters and family members were to remain in the apartment overnight to ensure that the couple would not be left alone if bailiffs, police officers or locksmiths returned.
The committee stressed that the struggle could continue and would require the coordinated involvement of trade unions, organisations and residents of the neighbourhood.
Housing as a right, not a commodity
The mobilisation in Kato Toumba has brought renewed attention to the threat of evictions facing vulnerable households in Greece. The family’s case has also highlighted the consequences of loan guarantees: although the original housing loan was taken out by their son, the parents’ home was auctioned after the father had acted as guarantor.
The Committee of Trade Unions Against Auctions and other organisations supporting the couple have demanded an end to the eviction, legal protection for primary residences against banks, funds and debt-servicing companies, and an end to auctions and evictions that leave people without housing.