Dispute at cement plant over unfair treatment of staff

A dispute has broken out between management at Heracles General Cement Company and the trade union at its plant in Halkida on the island of Euboea. In mid April 2007, management placed the employees on indefinite compulsory leave. Following government intervention, it was decided to reopen the plant until July 2007. However, the trade union has warned that, if management maintains a high-handed attitude, the union will resort to industrial action.

Growing tensions at AGET

Since 2001, Heracles General Cement Company (AGET Iraklis) has been part of the leading international French cement company Lafarge. On 19 April 2007, Lafarge acquired 26% of AGET Iraklis shares, which had been held by the National Bank of Greece (Εθνική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος), thereby increasing its holding to 78.8% of the company. Since then, Lafarge has proceeded to make structural changes in AGET, and as a result a serious dispute has arisen between Lafarge and the trade union at the plant in Halkida on the island of Euboea. In the words of the President of the Federation of Workers and Employees in the Cement Industry (GFWECI), Theofanis Stathopoulos, the union is asking Lafarge to ‘confirm French ideals’.

More specifically, in recent months, management at AGET Iraklis contested in court the validity of the 1992, 2002 and 2005 collective agreements which it had entered into with the union at Halkida, arguing that ‘they are outdated, excessively constraining on the lawful managerial prerogative and therefore cannot be applicable to a normal corporate structure’. According to these agreements, AGET was obliged to meet ongoing needs for repairs and maintenance of the plant’s machinery using regular staff, and such work could be assigned to a contractor only in certain restricted circumstances.

Furthermore, AGET was obliged to hire a specific number of staff to fill job vacancies. However, the engagements were never carried out, resulting in a staff shortage and violation of the 40-hour, five-day week. The courts repeatedly upheld the trade union’s grievance, but the management failed to acquiesce. In fact, during a strike in March and early April 2007, the management sent an extra judicial note accusing the union of ‘attempting to frustrate any attempt to modernise the plant’.

Finally, on 17 April 2007, a dispute over a perceived obstruction of entry for a contractor’s team intending to repair damages provided the company with a pretext to place 550 workers on compulsory paid leave for an unspecified period, thus imposing a form of lockout. The management believed that the incident had been a real obstruction, whereas the trade union claimed that it was only alleged to be so.

Detail of management announcement

AGET management announced that trade union members prevented contractors from entering the plant to carry out maintenance work to ensure that necessary safety conditions were met. Thus, management placed the workers on compulsory paid leave so that the contractors could finish the maintenance work, after which the plant would continue in normal operation. More specifically, the AGET Iraklis announcement stated that ‘the Halkida plant is out of operation as a result of actions by the plant’s union and workers, who prevented necessary repair work, an action that led to an interruption of production and the creation of serious safety problems’.

AGET management considered that all ‘opportunities for dialogue with the union’s executive on necessary organisational changes were exhausted’, and declared that it was not its intention to dismiss any worker or abuse any employment right. Nevertheless, in the absence of a response, the management felt obliged to take action.

A few days after the incident, the Labour Inspectorate (Επιθεωρηση Εργασίαζ) visited the plant and asked management to retract its unlawful decisions; however, management refused to comply.

Reactions to management actions

The workers denounced the company for meeting permanent operating needs of the plant by hiring external contractors to do specialised work, in violation of agreements and the five-day, 40-hour week. The employees stated that they were prepared to step up their industrial action, as they feared dismissals.

In a question in the parliament, a member of parliament (MP) from the area pointed out that:

the multinational Lafarge, in an unlawful, provocative act, locked the gate of the AGET Iraklis III plant in Halkida. In its attempt to introduce conditions of an industrial dark age, it placed the workers on compulsory leave, in violation of Compulsory Law 539/45. At the same time, in an extra judicial note to the Halkida cement workers union, it denounced the decisions of the Greek courts and the agreements concluded with the union in 1992, 2002 and 2005… It is obvious that Lafarge has imposed a peculiar form of lockout in order to coerce workers and render their industrial relations ineffective.

Result of successive tripartite meetings

A series of meetings followed between the company, the trade union and the Deputy Minister of Employment, Gerasimos Yakoumatos, in which the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) and GFWECI also took part. On 6 July 2006, AGET agreed that the plant would reopen temporarily until 4 July 2007, on condition that the maintenance contractors and the contractor for the mobile quarry equipment could work without impediment. The Deputy Minister Yakoumatos announced: ‘We came to the decision that the plant would operate normally until 4 July, when the company will submit an organisational chart and a master plan. Until then, not one of the current 550 employees will be dismissed.’ When asked, Deputy Minister Yakoumatos confirmed that the new organisational chart would not include job cuts.

Sofia Lampousaki, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour/Confederation of Public Servants (INE-GSEE/ADEDY)