An attempt by management at Halivourgiki, Greece's largest steel mill, to change working hours led in October 1998 to new clashes with workers, following a dispute in 1997.
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An attempt by management at Halivourgiki, Greece's largest steel mill, to change working hours led in October 1998 to new clashes with workers, following a dispute in 1997.
The climate among workers at Halivourgiki, Greece's largest steel mill, has been described as extremely tense. In an extrajudicial statement, company management has threatened to dismiss any workers who do not accept altered working hours it is proposing. In particular, on 5 October 1998 process-servers delivered statements/summons to workers, announcing cutbacks in the operation of the electric furnaces and hot-rolling divisions and stating that from Monday to Friday the night shift will begin at midnight instead of 22.30. Such a change would alter the overall length of the working week and split up workers' weekly rest periods. According to the extrajudicial statement, management has the right to change working hours, and workers must state within three days whether they prefer to comply with the new working hours or to have their employment relationship terminated irrevocably. It should be noted that in justification of its action management has cited the severe economic troubles faced by the company and the lower electricity costs the proposed solution would entail.
On the initiative of the trade union representing the Halivourgiki workers, a three-day meeting was held at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, where the competent deputy minister asked the representatives of Halivourgiki to submit a new proposal. On 12 October, the company duly served the union with an extrajudicial statement containing its new proposal. However, besides remaining adamant on its original proposal, it has now also revived a proposal to introduce a 10-hour working day, based on the provisions of the new industrial relations law (GR9808187N). According to the workers, these recent developments are connected with management's attempt in summer 1997 to introduce a 12-hour day (GR9706116F), and are once again aimed at changing existing labour relations for the worse.
The union rejected management proposals and called on workers to work their normal hours and exercise vigilance to frustrate any attempt to deprive them of their rights. The Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) has expressed its solidarity with the Halivourgiki workers. In an statement, it accuses the company of breaking the bilateral agreement with the union and of intending to dismiss more workers, and characterises the change in working hours as an abuse of working time management. The GSEE has asked the competent ministers to intervene at once to stop management's "anti-labour" plans and implement regulations provided for the organisation of working time and the exercice of the right to manage.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (1998), New clashes at Halivourgiki, article.
