[olympiaworkers] Peiraeus dockworkers resume strikes

libcom.org Nov. 2, 2009

Peiraeus dockworkers have resumed striking against the sell out of the
largest pier of Greece's main harbour to COSCO after negotiations
collapse.

The Peiraeus dockworkers of Pier II of Greece's main commercial harbour
have called a 48h strike starting Tuesday 3 November, thus resuming the
industrial action that had seen sea commerce freeze for more than two
weeks in early October.

According to the dockworkers, the strike comes as a result of the Minister
of the Economy, Ms Katseli's failure to guarantee a negotiation of wages,
work positions and social security benefits based on the collective
contract of the workers with the State, now leasing the harbour to COSCO.
Ms Katseli has promised to try to improve the conditions of the collective
contract with COSCO, a thing deemed unacceptable by the workers.Workers'
representatives have stressed that it is absurd for the government to sell
out one of the most profitable businesses of the public sector, accusing
the last government management of the harbour, responsible for handing it
over to COSCO, of gross economic mismanagement.

The development has come as a serious blow to the new Socialist government
which had gloated of solving the dispute peacefully. The leadership of the
governing party, PaSoK, is also worried about the political impact of the
strike, as OMYLE, one of the big dockworkers unions calling it, is
controlled by its own umbrella union, thus signaling the first
base-of-the-Party revolt against the administration. Ms Katseli has
declared that she fails "to perceive the legitimacy of the strike".