Working conditions in Athens examined

On 14 September 1998, the second part of a study on 'living and working conditions of workers in Athens', conducted on behalf of the Athens Labour Centre (EKA), was released. The first part of the report, on transport conditions in the capital, was published in late 1997 (GR9712147N). The new findings concern health and safety conditions and the effects on workers of technological restructuring.

The study involved a sample of 2,809 workers, both employed and unemployed, aged 18 or over, using the method of "multistage stratified sampling", in the six geographical areas of the Athens urban conglomeration.

Download article in original language : GR9810196FEL.DOC

Effects of technological restructuring

With regard to the effects of technological restructuring on workers, the study focused on the effects on working time, shifts, working conditions, the need for new skills and other related sectors.

Working time

The study finds that the effects of technological modernisation have brought about an increase of working hours for 5.6% of respondents, a decrease for 2.1%, and no change for 90.6%. With regard to the effects on workers on different wage scales, no substantial differentiation was observed from one scale to another, and on average 90% reported no significant fluctuations in working time.

The question of whether there is a differentiation in working time fluctuations according to the size of the enterprise was investigated. In enterprises employing fewer than five workers, which represent the bulk of Greek businesses, 10.9% of respondents said that working hours had been increased, while 0.6% said they had been reduced. In enterprises employing six-10 workers, working hours increased for 5.1% of respondents, and in enterprises employing 11-50 workers for 3.1%. In larger enterprises (51-100 workers), 9.6% reported an increase in working hours and 2.4% a decrease. In enterprises with over 100 workers, the figures are 4.9% and 2.1% respectively.

Increase in shifts

The most significant increase in shifts due to technological modernisation appears in enterprises employing 51-100 workers, where 11.2% reported an increase in the number of shifts. By employment sector, the greatest increase of shifts can be seen in energy/water supply/communications/transport, where the rate is 7.0%. On average, only 4.4% reported that shifts were increased due to technological modernisation, and 37% replied in the negative. In any case, for 55.5% of respondents the question on shifts was not applicable.

New skills

Respondents were asked whether or not there was a need to create new skills due to technological restructuring. By category of worker, the responses were as follows: public sector - 35.9%; public corporations - 31.6%; private sector - 19.4%; and unemployed people - 29.8%. By employment sector, the sector with the highest proportion of workers expressing the need for new skills was the public sector (37.8%), followed by construction (33.5%) and health and welfare (31.6%). In age terms, the highest percentage of affirmative responses (30.7%) came from the 35-44 age group. For women the figure was 27.8%, and for men 24.7%.

Working conditions

For 82.2% of respondents, technological modernisation had led to an improvement in working conditions, whereas 12.4% reported that it had not affected them at all.

Number of people employed

When asked about the effect of technological modernisation on the number of people employed in their enterprise, 72.5% of respondents said that the number of people employed remained unchanged, while 14.5% reported an increase and 10.2% a decrease.

Need for new skills in enterprises

One in four respondents (25.9%) stated that new skills were needed in the company where they worked after the introduction of technological modernisation.

Health and safety conditions in the workplace

Workplace health and safety conditions were seen by 26.8% of respondents as "not very good" or "not good at all". Similarly, 24.4% judged safety conditions in the workplace to be "unsatisfactory". As to health and safety committees, 67.2% of respondents reported that their workplace had no such committee, while 7.7% reported an elected committee and 10.8% an appointed committee.

According to the study, 72.7% of respondents reported that no health and safety-related trade union intervention or industrial action had taken place in their workplace during the last two years, compared with 18.3% who reported that such an intervention had taken place. The action that was taken concerned large public corporations and the public sector at large.

The study reveals that a greater percentage of male than female workers are aware of the importance of health and safety in the workplace; however, they are more prone to suffer accidents at work.

Some 15% of respondents said there had been between one and 10 work-related accidents in their workplace during the last two years, and 8% had themselves suffered accidents at work. The area with the greatest incidence of accidents was Piraeus.

With regard to working conditions, 70% of wage-earners reported facing at least one of the following problems in the workplace:

• one in two workers reported a noise or heat problem;

• one in three workers reported a dust problem;

• one in four workers reported a problem of fumes or damp;

• one in seven workers reported a problem of toxic substances; and

• one in nine workers reported a problem of inadequate lighting.

Commentary

Differentiations in technological modernisation from one sector to the other are striking, showing that the restructuring process has not advanced at the same pace everywhere. Technological restructuring has generally brought about an improvement in working conditions and is regarded favourably by wage earners. Despite the positive effect on enterprises, there has been no reduction in working time; in fact, in 5.6% of cases wage earners' working time has increased. Results are most unfavourable for workers in the construction, hotel, industry and hospital sectors. The percentage increase of working time is highest in the private sector.

The study leads to important conclusions about what should be done to prevent Greece's health and safety legislation from being a dead letter, and instead transform it into real measures to protect and improve workers' conditions of employment. Research and direct experience are for trade union organisations a compass to guide their action in a sector as sensitive as health and safety at work. In Greece, in the context of labour relations, there are clear references to issues of health and safety at work which should be enriched with new demands arising out of technological developments and their impact on working conditions. Decisive here is the role of the unions, which should take initiatives in this direction. (Christina Theohari, head of environment department, EKA)