Workers strike against economic policy and state violence

In December 2008, public and private sector trade unions called one of the biggest strikes in Greece in recent years. Initially, the strike sought to target the government’s economic policy, which affects the purchasing power of workers and heightens their insecurity for the future. However, following a tragic incident leading to the death of a schoolboy at the hands of a police officer, the strike action also focused on the protection of civil rights against violence.

Economic and social context

The Greek government published in late November 2008 the preliminary draft budget for 2009. Its proposals reflected the consequences of the global economic crisis, the poor performance of the Greek economy in terms of economic fundamentals and the obligations of the country under the Stability and Growth Pact for the eurozone. Thus, for yet another year, the budget provides for a restrictive incomes policy and substantially reduced public investment in sectors such as health and education.

As soon as the economic policy for 2009 was disclosed, the public and private sector trade unions called a general strike for 10 December 2008, coinciding with the debate on the 2009 budget in the parliament. The protest action followed a general strike that took place on 21 October 2008, when the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Υπουργείο Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών) outlined the trends of the economic policy for 2009 (GR0811019I).

On 6 December 2008, a tragic incident took place, leading to the death of a 16-year old schoolboy at the hands of a police officer. This caused a wave of public indignation against state violence. Numerous protests were led by schoolchildren in the days that followed the incident. These demonstrations condemned state violence but also questioned the future of a society with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe and where public investment in education has always been low.

In the shadow of the riots that ensued, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis invited the trade unions to call off the strike scheduled for 10 December 2008, for the sake of social peace. However, the trade unions reacted by declaring that government policies were responsible for the social disorder and turned the strike of 10 December into a rally for the protection of democratic institutions against abusive state violence.

Trade union demands

The Greek General Confederation of Labour (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Εργατών Ελλάδας, GSEE) organised the strike on behalf of the private sector, while the Confederation of Civil Servants (Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, ADEDY) represented the public sector. These are the two main trade union confederations in the country. A high participation rate was recorded and the strike affected operations in public services, schools, public transport and banks. Furthermore, the protest march that followed had an unprecedented attendance.

The demands of the strikers included, first, the convergence of wages with those of the more developed European Union Member States in order to stimulate the Greek economy. More specifically, the protesters demanded a €1,000 extraordinary income supplement for workers, pensioners and unemployed people. The strike participants also sought a tax increase for those earning high incomes and the reduction of value-added tax (VAT) in order to boost purchasing power. In addition, they ruled out mass [dismissals](/search/node/areas OR industrialrelations OR dictionary OR definitions OR dismissals?oldIndex) and any dismissals from companies receiving financial aid due to the economic crisis, until at least 31 December 2009. Furthermore, the strikers called for the doubling of severance pay and an extension of the eligible time period for unemployment benefits.

Moreover, the protesters urged the government to strengthen public investment programmes in large-scale construction projects to facilitate economic development and job creation. Finally, the strikers demanded respect for civil and political rights, with a view to creating a better society for young people and all citizens in Greece.

Government reaction

The government assured the strike participants that measures would be taken in favour of specified social groups, such as unemployed people, low-paid workers and pensioners, so that they will be affected as little as possible by the deterioration of the economy. For example, they will receive a heating allowance. However, the trade unions deemed this strategy to be insufficient, and they denounced the fact that the government – while supporting the banks with a cash injection of €28 billion – failed to support workers’ incomes and boost the economy.

Views of employers

It should be noted that no specific reaction to the strike demands came from the employers’ side. Nevertheless, the President of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (Σύγχρονες Επιχειρήσεις, Σύγχρονη Ελλάδα, SEV), Dimitris Daskalopoulos, declared that the business world supports every social initiative against price increases. Mr Daskalopoulos demanded that the state should implement the necessary reforms to combat such increases, instead of maintaining the status quo (GR0807059I).

Commentary

The global economic crisis is having a strong impact on the Greek economy, with mass dismissals taking place and with the rate of expected economic growth in 2009 forecast at just 2%, compared with 3.2% in 2008. For instance, more than 3,000 redundancies were announced in December 2008. Thus, workers strongly object to the restrictive incomes policy adopted in the last few years. Furthermore, the measures that the government is planning in favour of specified social groups will not mitigate the loss of income for all workers. Indeed, the expected increase in unemployment rates – about 80,000 job losses are predicted – as well as the rising cost of living will most probably lead to further social tensions.

Stathis Tikos, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE)