Interim Report - REPORT_NO190, March 1979

1. 389. By communications dated respectively 10 and 12 July 1978, the Athens and Piraeus Hospital Physicians' Association (EINAP) and the Confederation of Hospital Establishments Unions of Greece (OSNIE) presented complaints of infringement of trade union rights in Greece. The Athens and Piraeus Hospital Physicians' Association supplied additional information in substantiation of its complaint on 28 August 1978. The Government forwarded its observations with respect to these complaints in a communication dated 10 November 1978. Subsequently the Office received a complaint from the Urban Transport Company Employees' Union in a communication dated 26 October 1978.
2. 390. Greece has ratified both the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 391. The communications sent on 10 July and 28 August 1978 by the Athens and Piraeus Hospital Physicians' Association both refer to the sentencing of certain trade unionists to terms of imprisonment. It appears from these letters that on 9 June 1978, nine medical practitioners, members of the executive of this organisation, were sentenced by a court of first instance to 35 days' imprisonment for having failed to comply fully with the procedure laid down in Act No. 330/76 respecting occupational associations and federations and the protection of freedom of association, in connection with a lengthy strike organised in 1977.
2. 392. The EINAP explains that the persons concerned submitted a series of documents to the competent ministries and engaged in negotiations with respect to their grievances. Subsequently they notified the authorities by telegram that a strike was being called, but notice was not given through the intermediary of a court bailiff as required by law.
3. 393. According to the complaining organisation, hospital physicians throughout the country took part in the strike in defence of their acquired rights which the Minister of Social services had attempted to abolish. The EINAP specifies that the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Labour and the Director of the Ministry of Social Services were the main witnesses for the prosecution at the trial and that the charges had been filed by the Minister of Social Services then in office.
4. 394. The complaining organisation points out that the negotiations with the Minister of Social Services had lasted for more than six months and that according to section 33 of Act No. 330/76, "notice shall be deemed to have been given if a strike is called after negotiations have been held with the employer or his occupational association". The EINAP accordingly considers the sentencing of its officials to be an infringement of the labour and trade union legislation.
5. 395. The EINAP concludes by stating that the persons concerned have appealed against their sentences and that the case will be pursued in a court of second instance.
6. 396. The Confederation of Hospital Establishments Unions of Greece, for its part, draws attention in its communication of 12 July 1978 to repeated dismissals of trade unionists, and more particularly the dismissal of all the members of the executive of the KAT Hospital Staff Association, whose president is also the president of the complaining organisation. The OSNIE gives the names of ten persons who have been dismissed. The strike called on 13 June 1978 was still in progress at the time the complaint was filed. Its purpose was to secure the maintenance of acquired rights and, according to the complaining organisation, all the provisions of Act No. 330/76 had been complied with.
7. 397. In its reply the Government refers first of all to the complaint presented by the EINAP. It mentions in this connection section 36 of Act No. 330/76, which deals with strikes called in public services, under which heading health centres and hospitals fall. Under this section a decision to call a strike may not be taken before eight days have elapsed since the workers' grievances and the reasons for the strike were communicated - in writing by a court bailiff - to the employer or employers concerned and to the competent ministry and the Ministry of Employment.
8. 398. The legal procedure not having been followed by the EINAP, continues the Government, legal proceedings were initiated by the competent public prosecutor, and not by the Minister of Social Services, as claimed by the complaining organisation. The Government adds that the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Labour was summoned to appear in court to give evidence in his capacity as former Chief of the Collective Relations and Industrial Disputes Department of the Ministry of Labour, to which notice of the strike should have been communicated by a court bailiff.
9. 399. As concerns the complaint of the Confederation of Hospital Establishments Unions of Greece, the Government confirms that the members of the executive of the KAT Hospital Staff Association were dismissed during the strike called in that establishment.
10. 400. The Government adds that the competent department of the Ministry of Labour made intensive efforts and intervened twice with a view to assisting the parties to reach a settlement, but to no avail. The representatives of the establishment maintained in fact that the strike had been called in breach of the provisions of Act No. 330 of 1976 since the union's executive had not taken steps to ensure that the necessary emergency staff were on duty as required under the terms of Award No. 9 of 1978 pronounced by the Arbitration Tribunal. The protection to which the union's officials were entitled had consequently been waived.
11. 401. The Government states that the union officials claimed, on the other hand, that the dismissals were null and void and contrary to the provisions of Acts Nos. 330 of 1976 and 1801 of 1951 (respecting the protection of trade union leaders), that the procedure for calling strikes prescribed by Act No. 330 of 1976 had been followed and that the association had made sure that emergency staff were available, the latter having discharged their duties normally during the strike.
12. 402. Lastly, the Government states that the Ministry of Labour filed with the competent public prosecutor charge No. 1900 of 8 July 1978. The date of the hearing had not yet been fixed.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 403. Two of the complaints before the Committee in the present case refer to sentences and dismissals involving trade union officials as the outcome of strikes organised in the hospital sector during 1977 and 1978. These sentences and dismissals were stated to be on the ground of failure to comply with the procedure prescribed by Act No. 330/76 with respect to the calling of strikes in public services, which include hospitals.
2. 404. In the case where sentences have been imposed - that of the officials of the Athens and Piraeus Hospital Physicians' Association - it appears that the persons concerned had given notice of the strike to the authorities but they had not done so through a court bailiff as required by section 36 of Act No. 330/76. However, the complainant organisation, citing section 33 of the same Act, expresses the opinion that notice should be deemed to have been given inasmuch as negotiations had been held with the employer prior to the calling of the strike. Lastly, it is stated that the persons concerned have appealed against the sentences pronounced in the court of first instance.
3. 405. In the case involving the dismissal of all the members of the executive of the KAT Hospital Staff Association, the representatives of the establishment have argued that these officials had not taken steps to ensure the necessary emergency service - a claim that is refuted by the complainant organisation. According to the Government's communication, the Ministry of Labour has instituted an action at law with the competent public prosecutor in connection with this matter.
4. 406. The Committee has already examined the provisions of Act No. 330/76 invoked in connection with the measures to which the complainants' allegations refer. With regard to sections 32 et seq. of this Act, which make the exercise of the right to strike subject to certain conditions, the Committee has expressed the opinion that these restrictions are no greater than those which it has considered acceptable in other cases.
5. 407. The Committee further notes that both the matters in question are at present the subject of court proceedings. In order to have all the facts before it when reaching its conclusions, the Committee considers that it would be particularly useful for it to have at its disposal the decisions or judgements pronounced in respect of these matters together with the grounds adduced therefor.
6. 408. Lastly, the Committee notes that the Government's observations with respect to the complaint of the Urban Transport Company Employees' Union have not yet been received.