Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Greece (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes Act No. 1915 of 28 December 1990 to protect the trade union rights of the whole of the population and respecting the financial autonomy of the trade union movement, which amends the Act of 1982. It also notes the comments of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (CGTG) concerning the adoption of this new legislation.

Right to strike in the public services and the minimum service to cover the vital needs of the population. The Committee notes that Act No. 1915 widens the scope of the concept of the vital needs of the population for which a minimum service must be provided in the event of a strike (section 4 of the new Act amending section 21(2) of the Act of 1982). The new Act includes among the enterprises the operation of which is essential to cover the vital needs of the population, the Bank of Greece, civil aviation enterprises and enterprises responsible for paying the wages of employees in the public sector (section 3 of the new Act amending section 19 of the Act of 1982). Finally, the employer is made responsible for designating by name, at the beginning of the strike, the persons who must form the security staff (section 4 in fine of the new Act partially amending section 21 in fine of the Act of 1982).

The Committee notes the criticisms made by the CGTG concerning the draft text, which has since become Act No. 1915, according to which the employer is now solely responsible for designating the workers who are to provide the services in question. However, the Committee notes that the new Act does not seem to repeal the provisions of the Act of 1982 respecting the minimum service, in the determination of which workers and employers participate jointly, with the possibility, in the event of disagreement, of referring the matter to arbitration by a tripartite committee chaired by a judge (sections 15 and 21 of the Act of 1982). The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the manner in which, in practice, minimum services are established in public enterprises whose operation is essential to satisfy the vital needs of the population during the period covered by the report, and in particular the channels of appeal available to workers' organisations to criticise the nominations made by the employer to the security staff.