Supreme Court decision on collective dismissals of strikers
Paskelbta: 27 June 1998
On 12 June 1998, Greece's Supreme Court issued a decision permitting selective and collective dismissals of strikers participating in a strike which has been declared illegal by the courts.
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On 12 June 1998, Greece's Supreme Court issued a decision permitting selective and collective dismissals of strikers participating in a strike which has been declared illegal by the courts.
In a case arising from dismissals made in 1985 by the private Bank of America National, the Areopagus (Greece's Supreme Court) determined on 12 June 1998, in decision No. 530/1998, that if a worker continues to participate in a strike which has been declared illegal by a court ruling, the employer has the right to terminate the labour contract, or the worker can be regarded as having tacitly terminated his or her own contract.
The case reached the Supreme Court after two employees who had been dismissed by the Bank made an appeal, which was dismissed. According to the Supreme Court decision, the dismissals do not fall under the provisions of the law on collective dismissal/redundancy (Law 1387/1983). Therefore the provision in this law, which applies special protective measures when over 2% of the workforce is to be dismissed, does not apply to the workers, because they are regarded as having been dismissed for "personal reasons", ie for a violation of the law due to a disciplinary offence. In such cases, workers can maintain that their dismissal is unjustified only in the event of special contributing circumstances pertaining to the person of the dismissed worker, in accordance with which discrimination against him or her on the grounds of breach of good faith or moral conduct (Article 281 of the Civil Code) is unmerited. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the selective dismissal alone of some participants in an illegal strike does not render their dismissal unjustified.
In a second ruling, the Supreme Court also failed to regard as unjustified the dismissal of a union member who attacks or threatens his employer. At the same time the Court ruled that, on the basis of the Constitution and international conventions on the protection of trade unions, workers' representatives participating in workers' mutual aid funds do not constitute a trade union organisation, and therefore they are not granted union protection under Law 1264/1982.
„Eurofound“ siūlo šią publikaciją cituoti taip.
Eurofound (1998), Supreme Court decision on collective dismissals of strikers, article.
