Industrial action over privatisation at Hellenic Petroleum

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In July 2001, the Greek government announced the partial privatisation of Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) through the sale of 15%-30% of the company's shares to a strategic ally/investor. The announcement was a surprise, and the company's trade unions claimed that there had been no prior consultation. The POEPDHV petroleum workers' union launched a series of strikes, which it later suspended.

On 12 July 2001, the the Minister of Development announced that the government intended to sell between 15% and 30% of the total share capital in Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) to a petroleum company interested in forging a strategic alliance with ELPE. The deadline for the expression of interest and submission of bids to the consultant companies (UBS Warburg and the National Bank of Greece) has been set at 27 August 2001. In the government's view, the purpose of the sale is to create an alliance which will:

• promote the internationalisation of ELPE;

• strengthen its position in the Balkans area as a whole;

• facilitate the company's penetration of European markets; and

• contribute to the general optimisation of the company's prospects.

In the announcement, it was stated that in the framework of the privatisation programme the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of National Economy were putting forward a legislative amendment to reduce the Greek state's share in ELPE to below 51%.

The decision by the Ministry of Development regarding privatisation of ELPE has sparked strong opposition from the trade unions in the industry. In a series of announcements made jointly or separately between 12 and 20 July 2001 by the Panhellenic Federation of Workers in Petroleum Products Refineries and the Chemical Industry (POEPDHV), the Panhellenic Union of Workers in Hellenic Petroleum (PSEEP) and the Union of Workers and Employees in Hellenic Petroleum SA, the industry's unions have expressed their total opposition to the Ministry's decision. Among the claims they made were the following:

• the surprise decision by the Ministry to privatise ELPE was made with no prior notice to the workers or their representatives;

• this decision was in total contrast to the government's pre-election programme and to personal commitments made by the Minister to the executive council of PSEEP in April 2000;

• the reason for the sale was not to optimise the company's prospects but to raise funds to fill in a new "black hole" in the revenue side of the state budget;

• ELPE is sufficiently economically robust to be able to fund on its own the current five-year plan for its development in Greece and abroad;

• following the Ministry's decision, the current scheme for exchanging packages of shares with central European enterprises of the same kind and the same size as ELPE appears to be completely out of the question. This will mean the decline of a profitable company; and

• the change in the ownership status of ELPE will totally change the Greek energy situation, with all that this entails for the country's dependence as far as energy is concerned.

In this framework, ELPE workers' unions stated that they would actively resist the government's policies, which they believe will hinder development and undermine the prospects for ELPE workers' labour rights and jobs. In a press release issued on 20 July 2001, POEPDHV announced a series of six 48-hour strikes beginning on 24 July. However, the POEPDHV executive, in an extraordinary meeting on 29 July 2001, decided to suspend further strikes, assessing the situation that had arisen in the course of the industrial action in combination with the following developments:

• the fact that the law regarding the privatisation of ELPE will be amended after 20 August 2001; and

• a decision by ELPE to petition for an injunction aimed at outlawing the strike, which would have implications for the course of the industrial action.

In early August, after a scheduled meeting between its representatives and the Minister of Development, POEPDHV was due to announce a specific agenda for further industrial action.