Workers take strike action to prevent privatisation of port operations

The government’s decision to hold an international competition to privatise operations of the Piraeus and Thessaloniki port authorities sparked opposition from the Federation of Greek Port Workers. Since November 2006, port workers have refrained from working overtime and on weekends, thus creating major problems in the country’s two biggest commercial ports. To resolve the situation, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine proposed a set timeframe for consultation with the social partners.

As part of an attempt to boost competitiveness and attract new investments, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine (YEN) decided to hold an open competition in order to privatise operations of the Piraeus (in southern Greece) and Thessaloniki (in northern Greece) cargo terminals for a 30-year period. The management of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) emphasised that it would safeguard workers’ jobs and that the new investment of about €550 million will create an important number of new jobs. Moreover, the port’s management announced its willingness to enter into dialogue with the social partners.

Social partner reactions

The Federation of Greek Port Workers (OMYLE) argued that OLP could carry out the required development works using its own capital. Following an unsuccessful meeting with YEN on 1 November 2006, the trade union launched a series of strikes in the country’s major ports, with employees refusing to work overtime or on weekends, work stoppages and sustained strike action. On 10 November 2006, when OLP held talks with the Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) about privatising the ports’ cargo operations, serious incidents took place in Thessaloniki and Piraeus.

In light of the continuing crisis in the country’s main ports, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which develops and maintains a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping and ensures its efficiency, intervened: IMO favoured the privatisation of the Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports’ operations under the condition that it should be done through an open tender procedure, providing all relevant information to the parties concerned, and only with the consent of the workers.

At the same time, lorry owners hired by the state to provide freight transport services also went on strike in reaction to the port workers’ strikes, as they felt that their interests were also being affected.

The OLP administration accused the workers of holding a go-slow protest to negatively affect the port’s turnover without losing their own wages, since they have reduced the productivity of each shift by as much as 60%. OLP demanded that workers return to their normal productivity levels, as otherwise it would take the case to the courts to have the workers’ action declared as strike action.

To resolve the impasse over the port’s normal functioning and to facilitate dialogue between the parties concerned, the Prefect of Piraeus suggested suspending any decisions with regard to privatisation for six months, thus allowing for a normal turnover of the port during the holiday period. The Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE), which supported the workers’ side from the outset of the conflict, also requested that any decisions on the privatisation of the ports’ operations be abandoned.

Government action

Following a demand by opposition parties and other organisations whose interests were affected by the ongoing strike action, the government began to examine the possibility of halting the industrial action. While the Minister of Mercantile Marine, Manolis Kefalogiannis, had been talking about an open-ended consultation with the workers, he reconsidered his strategy and proposed a timeframe of two or three months for the consultation process.

The meeting between port workers and representatives of YEN on 6 December 2006 failed to produce the desired results, and the following meeting scheduled for the next day was postponed. In the meantime, Minister Kefalogiannis published the social dialogue agenda, which included topics such as safeguarding jobs and pay, insurance and pension rights, examining the possibility of early retirement or transfers if workers request these, and exploring the option of an OLP and OLTH employee share ownership scheme to offer company shares on favourable terms to the workers. The ports’ workers, however, decided to continue their strike action until the government clarifies its position; the workers are adamant about their demand of not privatising the operations of the container cargo terminals.

Comment

It is noteworthy that, besides the major economic cost of the strike for the ports’ authorities and thus the state, other categories of workers have also been affected by the action taken by the port workers. In addition, market supply of consumer goods declined and prices of many goods increased, which had a negative impact on consumers. Moreover, the strike particularly harmed the reputation of reliability of the Greek ports as well as foreign trade for the second time in the past 18 months (GR0603019I).

Elena Rapti, Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE-GSEE)