Strike trends examined

Source: Ministry of Labour. *Figures refer only to the first five months; ** figures refer only to the first six months.

The legalisation and activation of trade unions as soon as democracy was restored in 1974 contributed to a proliferation of strikes. As shown in table 1, from 1975 to 1980 there was a constant rise in the number of strikes and working hours lost as a result. This was due not only to economic but also to political factors, in the sense that after end of the seven-year period of dictatorship up to 1975 workers felt the absence of repression and began to demand more trade union freedoms. In addition, falls in the rate of economic growth and in real wages, in conjunction with extremely low unemployment levels, resulted in an intensification of industrial strife.

The number of working hours lost due to strikes reached its highest point in 1980 (20,494,944 working hours lost and 1,407,821 strikers), in the highly-charged political climate of a pre-general election period. According to H Ioannou ('The unequal development of trade unionism. The 1976-1981 strikes', Labour Relations Review, No. 6, April 1997), '… the spate of strikes in the two years from 1977 to 1980 was for the most part a function of the nationwide and local general strikes and was one aspect of the reversal of the political relations of Greek wage-earners with the New Democracy government in power at that time. The spate of strikes in the two years from 1978 to 1980 constituted industrial action protesting the political power; this explains the reduction in the rate of strikes in individual sectors and the increase in general strikes.'

This peak was followed by a sharp fall in strike activity during 1981 (an election year), a rise in 1982 and another decline in 1983-4. From 1985 to 1987, which was the highest point of a wave of strikes, the number of lost working hours increased steadily. Specifically, in 1986 and 1987 the number of strikers was 1,106,420 and 1,609,175 respectively. This was much higher than the number of strikers in 1985 (785,725) and the highest since the restoration of democracy in 1974 (in terms of the numbers participating in strikes). At the same time, 8,839,369 working hours were lost in 1986 and 16,537,686 in 1987. The figures for 1985 and the first half of 1986 included four nationwide strikes against the restrictive incomes policy being implemented at that time by the Socialist PASOK government.

Strike activity reached another high point in 1990, due to reactions against the economic policy promoted by the conservative New Democracy government elected in April. Thus, 200 strikes, 1,405,597 strikers and 20,335,313 lost working hours were registered in 1990. Of the strikes, 103 were held in the private sector of the economy (both large- and small-scale industry) and 60 in banks and state-run utilities and enterprises. The main causes of these major strikes were the abolition of the second instalment of the cost-of-living wage increase in May 1990, the submission of a first draft bill on the social insurance system to parliament in September of the same year, and the planned privatisation and liquidation of so-called 'ailing' state enterprises (Peiraiki Patraiki, Olympic Catering, Euboea Mining etc).

In 1991, both the number of strikers and the number of lost working hours fell dramatically. The number of strikes increased slightly in 1992, due for the most part to industrial action by workers in public transport, the banks and the Public Power Corporation (DEI), stemming largely from a second draft bill on the social insurance system introduced by the New Democracy government. Since then, there was a steady decrease in the number of strikes throughout the 1990s, when strike action by the trade unions reached a nadir.

The causes put forward by researchers to explain the fall in the number of strikes and the low participation of workers in strikes are: on the one hand, the 'labour peace' ensured by the signing of National General Collective Agreement s and sectoral and enterprise-level agreements; and on the other hand, constant pressure exerted on workers by falling real incomes and growing unemployment, resulting in a constant decline in union membership. Furthermore, the fact that in many cases industrial action has not had the expected results appears to have had a negative impact on workers' desire to take part in strikes.

With regard to the period from 1999 to 2002, a lack of data on annual strike trends, their distribution by sector and their basic causes prevent us from drawing further conclusions. According to the Ministry of Labour, the lack of overall data and the gaps in the most recent data, along with the classification of such data in different categories, are caused, first and foremost, by underperformance of the local Labour Inspectorates and by staff shortages.

Economic cycles and strikes

According to researchers, the fluctuations in strike trends may to a large extent be attributed to fluctuations in the economic cycle and especially in unemployment, as well as to other 'exogenous', non-economic factors.

As can be seen from table 2 below, the course of the economy is significantly linked to the evolution of strikes. Thus, the number of lost working hours moves in inverse proportion to the evolution of real wages and the growth rate of the economy. As a result, when growth rates and real wages fall, there is an upsurge of strikes, presumably aimed at satisfying workers’ demands associated with the loss of pay. Conversely, when growth rates and wages increase, industrial action declines. The same is true of the development of inflation and unemployment. When there is an increase in inflation, industrial action also increases, presumably for the purpose of exerting pressure on those in power so that losses of pay can be offset. Furthermore, when unemployment is low, as it was in the 1970s, or it stabilises for a long period at relatively higher levels without increasing , as it did over 1982-90, then there is an intensification of strike action. Just the opposite occurs (ie a fall in strike action) when unemployment is constantly on the rise, as was the case during the 1990s.

Various studies on strike trends have found that strike activity decreases in times of increased unemployment, due to workers’ unwillingness to organise in trade unions, mainly due to fear of dismissal. Conversely, strike activity intensifies in periods of increased employment, because then the unions demand pay increases from a position of power. In the words of K Vergopoulos, writing about the Greek situation in 2001: 'whereas the economy appears to have now entered a new cycle of growth, social demands have not decreased but rather have proliferated and intensified, even against the left-wing government. Whereas in the recent past the 'urgent social issue' was the preservation of social cohesion, nowadays the concept of 'social stability', making up for lost ground as far as wages are concerned and warding off economic and social threats are put forward much more.'

Furthermore, researchers have maintained that industrial action increases and trade unions gain strength in the growth stage of the economic cycle, while conversely members are lost, with a resultant lower union density, during a downturn in economic activity. From a trade union perspective, according to D Katsoridas ('Economic cycles and waves of strikes', Enimerossi, INE/GSEE-ADEDY, No. 58, April 2000), this is because: the capitalist system cannot grant workers’ demands, due to the economic crisis; and there is a large number of unemployed people willing to serve as a reserve pool of labour, effectively putting pressure on people in employment.

Non-economic factors which appear to affect the evolution of strikes include pre- or post-election periods, incomes policy, the political climate, the prevailing ideological trends, government policy, trade union power and wage increases in individual sectors (see T Katsanevas, 1996, cited above and 'Causes and trends in industrial action in the countries of the European Union and Greece', Labour Relations Review, No. 12, October 1998). In particular, some analysts maintain that during pre-election periods there are usually intense strike mobilisations in Greece. The basic reason for this is that the trade unions consider themselves able to take advantage of the election climate, because at such times those in power are more likely to make concessions, and to press for better pay and an institutional framework for their demands