Union proposals for implementation of EU fixed-term work Directive

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In late June 2002, Greece's GSEE trade union confederation, along with a number of other organisations, called for a nationwide rally on 4 July 2002 to demand permanent employment for all workers with fixed-term employment contracts, along with immediate implementation of the 1999 EU Directive on fixed-term work.

At a meeting held on 27 June 2002, the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE), the Panhellenic Federation of Public Servants Employed under Private Law and associations representing fixed-term contract workers throughout Greece resolved to hold a nationwide rally on 4 July 2002, demanding permanent employment for all fixed-term contract workers and immediate implementation of EU Directive 1999/70/EC on fixed-term work (EU9905170F).

The unions' demands, published on 28 June 2002, include the following:

• immediate implementation in Greece of the EU fixed-term work Directive.

• contracts to meet temporary needs should be considered open-ended, if they have a duration of over three months;

• fixed-term contracts should not be concluded for the purpose of trying out employees.

• a single open-ended contract should be deemed to exist where, within a period of 18 months, more than two fixed-term contracts are concluded with a total term of at least 10 months, except in cases of seasonal labour;

• provision should be made for payment of compensation upon termination of fixed-term contracts with a duration of over 12 months;

• the EU Directive's protection should also be applied to any fixed-term contract workers who for any reason continue to work for the same employer after their contracts have expired;

• the term of their work permits should not affect the nature of foreign workers' contracts, ie whether they are fixed-term or open-ended;

• the Directive must be applied across the board, covering all fixed-term contract workers in the public and private sectors;

• the Directive's provisions must apply to works contracts and any other type of contracts, which conceal ongoing, permanent and operational needs of the company;

• provision must be made for retroactivity of all successive fixed-term contracts, which conceal ongoing and permanent needs;

• it is pointed out that the Directive must be implemented by 10 July 2002 at the latest. Any delay will mean a violation of Community legislation by the Greek government and, will cause the initiation of procedures for Greece to be brought before the European Court of Justice;

• it will be necessary, as laid down in clause 5 of the social partner agreement annexed to the fixed-term work Directive, to determine the 'objective reasons justifying the renewal of such contracts or relationships', and employers will be obliged to explain, in cases of successive contracts or replacement of a worker under a fixed-term contract with another in the same job, why they have concluded a fixed-term and not an open-ended contract; and

• the principle of non-discrimination should be applied to fixed-term workers except when made imperative by objective needs, so that they 'shall not be treated in a less favourable manner than comparable permanent workers' (clause 4 of the EU fixed-term work agreement) in relation to the right to paid leave, social insurance benefits, paid and unpaid parental leave, compensation in the event of dismissal etc.

According to GSEE, the above are the minimum provisions necessary to avoid violation of labour rights. It is clear, it states, that transposition of the fixed-term work Directive in national law will have the effect of retroactively introducing existing private-sector employment relationships to the broader public sector and to the public services in general. Any different regulation by the Ministry of Labour, and in particular any thought of not making the regulation retroactive, would clearly violate the letter and the spirit of the Directive in question and therefore would be opposed by the unions. It should be noted that the abovementioned points have been the positions of the unions on this issue for some time, and have been submitted repeatedly to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.