Interim Report - Report No 218, November 1982

1. 598. The Committee has already examined this case at its May 1982 session, at which it reached interim conclusions. Since then, the Government has communicated observations in a letter of 8 September 1982.
2. 599. Greece has ratified 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 600. The complaint submitted in. September 1981 by the Works Committee of the Skaramanga shipyards referred to allegations that the employer, Stavros Niarchos, refused to grant trade union rights within the enterprise and to the fact that he would authorise only a plant union to serve the interests of the workers.
2. 601. The complaint related to alleged persecution by an employer against the workers of the Skaramanga shipyards who wished to set up a union of their own choosing outside the plant union, Triena, which is already in existence, and to many anti-union dismissals. It also concerned the fact that order is allegedly maintained inside the shipyards in question by about 100 persons armed with truncheons and that workers who refuse to belong to the plant union are allegedly threatened with dismissal.
3. 602. According to the complainant Works Committee, in this enterprise of 5,800 workers, set up in 1958 and practically forming a State hundreds of hectares in area, surrounded by a perimeter wall 4 meters high topped by broken glass and barbed wire, workers wishing to be taken on have to sign a declaration of loyalty stating that they will not join any union. Applicants also have to provide information on their previous and present addresses, to be checked by the security police, and to sign an undertaking to accept the works rules - described by the complainant organisation as an anachronism - of the shipyards dating from 1963. Moreover, new workers are expected to join the Triena union which was set up within the enterprise as long ago as 1963 and which, according to the complainant Works Committee, serves the interests of the employer.
4. 603. Still according to the works Committee, to maintain order the enterprise allegedly recruited over 100 persons who, armed with truncheons, go about with radios in jeeps or on motorcycles. These persons are said to be constantly on the move inside and outside the shipyards, terrorising, threatening and beating the workers.
5. 604. Further, refusal to belong to the Triena union can result in workers being suspected of contravening Act No. 64/1974 which provides that persons who refuse to uphold the democratic political regime cannot work in state enterprises or enterprises of strategic importance and that they can be dismissed without compensation by the Loyalty council.
6. 605. The Works Committee explained that on three occasions the workers had tried to form a union and had been dismissed en masse. It is alleged that in 1975 there were 550 dismissals and that some workers were beaten; that, since May 1980, 242 workers were dismissed and that, since October 1980, 717 new workers were recruited. The works Committee, the author of the complaint, added that it was set up in 1979 and that it operated clandestinely.
7. 606. The Committee had studied the information and observations transmitted by the Government on the various aspects of the case, from which it emerged that the Minister of Labour had asked his departments to examine the matter carefully and that the labour inspectorate had endeavoured, by means of frequent contacts and by inspections, to create an appropriate climate for the workers so that by themselves, freely and independently, they might choose those of the trade unions which best served their interests.
8. 607. With regard to the dismissals which had taken place in the past, the Government stated that the competent labour inspectorate had examined several cases and considered that a good number of them concealed abuses legal action had therefore been brought before the competent courts.
9. 608. At its May-June 1982 session, the Governing Body, on the Committee's recommendations, therefore approved certain interim conclusions, in particular:
   • "(a) As regards the allegation that the management of the Skaramanga shipyards persecuted workers who wished to set up a union of their own choosing outside the plant union, Triena, the Committee recalled that any measures taken against workers for attempting to form a workers organisation other than the existing one were incompatible with the principle that workers should have the right to establish organisations of their own choosing. The Committee, while noting certain assurances given by the Government in the matter, nevertheless requested the Government to specify whether the complainant Works Committee enjoyed legal personality and whether its leaders enjoyed the immunities granted by Greek legislation to the leaders of occupational organisations.
   • (b) Regarding the allegations that a very large number of wrongful dismissals had taken place, the Committee noted that legal appeals had been instituted by a number of the persons concerned. It requested the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of these appeals in the hope that the Government would endeavour to obtain the reinstatement of those who had been unjustly dismissed for normal trade union activities.
   • (c) Regarding the allegations that order was maintained in the Skaramanga shipyards by about 100 persons armed with truncheons and that workers who refused to belong to the Triena union might be dismissed by the Loyalty council for infringing Act No. 64/1974, the Committee invited the Government to transmit its observations on these aspects of the case to which it had not yet replied."

B. The Government's reply

1. 609. In its letter of 8 September 1982, the Government refers to the adoption of Act No. 1264 of 1982 respecting the democratisation of the trade union movement and the consolidation of trade union freedoms published in the Official Gazette (No. 79) of 1 July 1982. This text, the Government asserts, repeals the legislation hitherto in force concerning trade unions.
2. 610. Furthermore, on the first point raised by the Committee, the Government states that works Committees are not regarded by Greek legislation as being trade union associations. Consequently, it explains, if their representatives are dismissed they do not enjoy the special protection of the law, which is only granted to the representatives of trade union associations and their founder members. Greece has not yet ratified the Workers Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135) and provision has not yet been made for this protection in the legislation. The Government nevertheless gives assurances that an appropriate legal framework for creating the conditions necessary for the application of Convention No. 135 will be established and that the early ratification of this Convention is under consideration.
3. 611. With regard to the discriminatory dismissals alleged to have taken place at the shipyards over the years 1976 to 1980, the Government first indicates generally that, as of now, the new Act No. 1264 contains a general clause protecting all workers in respect of their trade union activities, since section 14, subsection 4, of the Act provides that workers may not be dismissed for participation in legal trade union activities.
4. 612. Furthermore, the Government announces that under the transitional provisions in section 24, subsections 1, 2 and 3, of the above Act, the following must be reinstated:
   • - the leaders and founder members of trade unions dismissed after the coming into force of the old Act, No. 330 of 1976 respecting occupational associations and federations;
   • - workers whose contracts were denounced under the provisions of the above-mentioned Act, particularly under section 38 concerning participation in illegal strikes or those called in contravention of the provisions of Act No. 330; and
   • - workers whose contracts were denounced after Act No. 330 came into force, in the month preceding the start of a strike or even during a strike, or in the two months following the date on which the strike ended within the undertaking or the sector.
     • These transitional provisions apply immediately to the dismissed trade union leaders and workers as from the time they were unemployed between 1 April and the date on which the law was promulgated, that is 1 July 1982. The Government makes it clear, however, that the provision in the third case does not apply if the courts decide that the dismissals were not motivated by the exercise of trade union activities.
   • 613. More specifically, the Government states that according to section 24 referred to above, workers dismissed because of trade union activities in the Skaramanga shipyards will be taken back as long as the dismissals come under the scope of this section. Moreover, it states that the procedure for reinstating the workers whom the courts consider to have been dismissed for their trade union activities has been started.
5. 614. With regard to the Loyalty Council's alleged dismissal for infringement of Act No. 64/1974 of shipyard workers who refused to join the Triena union, the Government states that Legislative Decree No. 64/1974 has fallen into abeyance.
6. 615. Reviewing the background of the question, the Government explains that section 3 of the Legislative Decree "respecting information indicating the personal and family situation of public employees and the faith in the country's democratic political regime of certain occupational categories" provided for the possibility of extending its scope, by presidential decrees, to all or some of the categories of the staff of public undertakings or undertakings operated in the public interest which, by virtue of their operations, were regarded as being of vital importance to national security or defence. Section 4 concerned the setting up of a special council responsible for assessing the faith in the country's democratic political regime of persons wishing to be employed in such posts. After the promulgation of these decrees in 1976, the Government adds, the scope of the provisions of the Legislative Decree was extended even to the Skaramanga shipyards, which were regarded as undertakings of vital importance to the country's national defence because they were concerned with the building of ships of all kinds. However, following the October 1981 elections, the Legislative Decree fell into abeyance and an over-all review of legislation is being considered particularly since the Greek Parliament already has before it various Bills with a view to the ratification of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). Once these texts are adopted, the Government concludes, there will no longer be any form of discrimination on the basis of workers political convictions,
7. 616. With regard to the allegation that order was maintained in the shipyards by persons armed with truncheons, the Government states that, following the special directives that were sent to it, the labour inspectorate has organised frequent visits to the workplaces at these shipyards, by its on-the-spot inspection services, always concerned to safeguard trade union freedoms through adequate measures.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 617. The Committee notes the information communicated by the Government on the various aspects of the case and, in particular, on the fact that the Works Committee in question is not considered by the law to be a trade union association.
2. 618. The Committee notes generally that Greek trade union legislation, both under Act No. 330/76 and under the new Act, does not prevent the granting of legal personality to several trade unions in the same undertaking. In addition, according to the information available, it does not appear that the complainants have been refused legal personality to create a trade union.
3. 619. In the present case, the issue does not appear to be linked to the granting of legal personality to the trade union, but appears to be rather a question of facts preventing the workers from setting up an organisation separate from the Triena union and resulting in anti-trade union acts on the part of the employer.
4. 620. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the measures necessary to guarantee in practice the right "recognised in the law" to create a trade union organisation in the undertaking apart from the Triena union. It recalls that the Ministry of Labour has already stated that it is endeavouring to ensure a climate appropriate for the workers freely to choose their organisations. The Committee therefore expresses the hope that, if an application for legal personality is made by the workers, including an application made by the complainant works Committee, aimed at creating a trade union organisation separate from the one which already exists, it will be granted in the shortest possible time, The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether an application for legal personality has been made by the complainant works Committee.
5. 621. The Committee notes that section 14(8) of the new trade union legislation only affords protection at law to the founding members of the first trade union organisation set up in an undertaking. The Committee invites the Government, in view of the allegations that anti-trade union acts were carried out by the employer to prevent the workers from creating a trade union organisation separate from the Triena union, to consider amending its legislation so as to grant protection at law to the founding members of an organisation other than the first one set up in an undertaking.
6. 622. With regard to the dismissals, the Committee notes with great interest that measures with immediate effect provide for the reinstatement of the trade union leaders and workers dismissed for contravening the provisions of Act No. 330 of 1976 respecting occupational associations and federations.
7. 623. The Committee also notes with interest that new legislative measures have been adopted to give workers better protection in the exercise of their trade union activities, and hopes that all the workers of the shipyards in question who were dismissed for anti-union reasons will be reinstated in their jobs before long, in accordance with the Government's assurances.
8. 624. With regard to the complainant's allegation that workers who refuse to belong to the plant union, Triena, may be dismissed by the Loyalty Council for contravening Act No. 64/1974, the Committee notes that the Government has stated that this Act has been in abeyance since the 1981 elections.
9. 625. The Committee nevertheless observes that, on the Government's own admission, this Act allowed for a special council to assess the faith in the country's democratic political regime of persons wishing to be employed in certain posts, including posts in the shipyards in question, since they came under the scope of these provisions when they were considered as undertakings of vital importance to national defence because they were concerned with the building of ships of all kinds.
10. 626. It is not for the Committee to express an opinion on the merits of a system that requires those seeking a job in certain areas of activity to comply with provisions on faith in a country's democratic political regime. On the other hand, the Committee has always considered that it should take cognisance of such a system as soon as it was shown to have been used to prevent trade union activities or to harm persons carrying out such activities.
11. 627. In the present case, the Committee observes that the complainant has stated that the workers who refused to belong to the Triena union were dismissed by the Loyalty Council and that the Government has not denied this allegation.
12. 628. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that the principles of freedom of association have been called into question and it urges the Government to intercede with the employer of the Skaramanga shipyards to ensure that no worker suffers any disadvantage for having refused to join the plant union, Triena.
13. 629. The Committee has taken note of the Government's explanations concerning the allegation relating to the way in which the employer maintained order in his undertaking. The Committee considers that it is indeed up to the labour inspectorate to continue to safeguard trade union freedoms by adequate measures through on-the-spot visits to the shipyards in question.