Interim Report - Report No 172, March 1978

Case No 876 (Greece) - Complaint date: 30-APR-77 - Closed

1. 353. The complaint of the Greek Federation of Teachers in Private Teaching was contained in a communication dated 30 April 1977. Further information in support of the complaint was contained in communications from the complainant organisation dated 27 May, 9 and 15 September 1977.
2. 354. The complaint and additional information was transmitted to the Government of Greece which, in a communication dated 19 September 1977, transmitted its observations on the complaint.
3. 355. 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. 356. The complainant organisation, in its communication of 30 April 1977, alleged that the Government was seriously endangering the trade union rights of that organisation by a series of measures that were anti-Constitutional. Teachers in the private sector, who numbered more than 6,500, were claiming that their professional status should be clearly defined and guaranteed, and they had gone on strike throughout Greece on 7 March 1977. The strike was carried on until 20 April 1977 when the Government decided to requisition the services of the teachers by decreeing a "civil mobilisation". The result of this measure was to put an end to the strike, thus constituting, according to the complainants, an infringement of trade union rights as recognised by the Constitution.
2. 357. The complainants stated that this measure of requisition of the teachers' services was denounced in Parliament by all the opposition party chiefs as anti-democratic and anti-constitutional, and the Greek General Confederation of Labour took a similar view of the matter.
3. 358. During the strike, continued the complainants, the Ministry for National Education interfered with the object of splitting the private teaching sector. The Ministry also decided to allow employers in private teaching establishments to replace the teachers who were on strike by retired teaching staff. Furthermore, stated the complainants, the attitude of the Ministry enabled the employers to pressurise illegally the teachers and the pupils in order to break the strike. According to the complainants, there were arrests, dismissals and threats of dismissal.
4. 359. In further communications the complainants transmitted the text of a ministerial decision (No. 38901), published in the Official Gazette on 18 April 1977, by virtue of which some 20 private schools, as well as their personnel, were requisitioned as from 20 April 1977 because of "the consequences of the continuing strike of private teachers, their refusal to re-open the schools for examinations and the state of disorder thereby created in such a sensitive social area, and in view of the risk that the pupils would lose one school year". A copy of another ministerial decision (No. 225), published in the Official Gazette also on 18 April 1977, and issuing an order for the requisition of all schools in the country as well as their personnel, was also transmitted by the complainants.
5. 360. In its communication dated 15 September 1977 the complainant organisation protested against the dismissal of Mr. C. Volioti, Ionios School, Secretary-General of the Union of Teachers in Private Teaching (Athens and Piraeus) and of Mr. M. Kriki, Delassal School, President of the Union of Teachers in Private Teaching (Thessalonica) in violation of article 26(1) of Law No. 330/1976. The complainants claimed that these dismissals were proof of the anti-worker nature of Law No. 682/1977 recently voted by the Parliament. The complainants added that, in the preceding two weeks, more than 100 of their colleagues, trade unionists and non-trade unionists alike, had been dismissed.
6. 361. The Government, in its communication of 19 September 1977, transmitted the reply of the Ministry for National Education to the allegations put forward by the complainants.
7. 362. The Ministry for National Education explained that in a series of decisions by the Court of Cassation it was decided that the labour contracts of teachers engaged in private teaching were renewable legally without limitation of time provided that the school in question continued to operate. A decision (No. 1456/76) of the Council of State, however, laid down that contracts of teachers in private teaching can be renewed, after the expiry of the first three-year period, and extended for a further period of three years. The "Superior Special Court" (provided for in article 100 of the Constitution) was faced with the problem of interpreting the above decisions and in a judgement (No. 1/76) upheld the following interpretation: that the meaning of article 57(2) of Legislative Decree No. 657 of 1970 is that, following the expiry of the first three-year period, the contract can be renewed legally only once, provided that the school in question continues to operate and provided that the owner of the school has obtained the approval of the school board as regards the non-renewal of the agreement concerned.
8. 363. The Ministry added that the teachers in private teaching had been insisting that the draft legislative decree which was being prepared, should ensure the stability and permanence of their employment in the schools where they worked. However, it had not proved possible to satisfy their demands since the adoption of such provisions would not be in conformity with the Constitution, an opinion which was shared by a council of legal experts which unanimously decided this to be the case. This had been explained to the teachers on many occasions and they had been informed that every step would be taken in the draft legislative decree to guarantee their salaries and positions.
9. 364. Unfortunately, according to the Government, the teachers were unwilling to co-operate in the elaboration of the legislative decree and their absence from work created difficulties in the running of the schools, thereby causing the risk that the pupils might lose an entire school year. It was, accordingly, decided to seek the consent of the Prime Minister, in conformity with article 19(2) of Law No. 17 of 1974, to requisition those private schools which were not operating, as well as their personnel, in order that these might continue to function at least until the end of the current school year which was shortly to finish. Once the Prime Minister's consent had been obtained, Acts were passed in accordance with articles 18, 22 and 112 of the Constitution, articles 18, 19 and 22 of Law No. 17 of 1974 and article 2 of Law No. 9 of 1975, whereby 29 private schools were requisitioned and the staff of these mobilised.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 365. The Committee notes that this case concerns action taken by the Government on 20 April 1977 to requisition a number of private schools and mobilise the teaching staff of these establishments during a strike of the teaching staff which commenced on 7 March 1977. The Committee understands from the information at its disposal that the object of the strike was to obtain greater security and permanency in the contract conditions of teachers in private teaching establishments since, according to the accepted legal interpretation of the relevant enactments, the contracts of such workers are only renewable once following the expiry of the first three-year period, and subject to certain further conditions being fulfilled. The Government, for its part, admits that measures of requisition and mobilisation were taken, explaining that satisfaction could not be given to the teachers' demands since the inclusion of provisions of the type sought by the teachers in a new legislative decree which was being prepared would run contrary to the Constitution.
2. 366. On a number of occasions in the past the Committee has drawn attention to the possibility of abuse involved in the mobilisation or requisitioning of workers in industrial disputes. In the present case, although the Committee fully appreciates that the length of the stoppage by the teachers in private schools in Greece may have been such as to give rise to serious consequences for the implementation of the educational programme, it nevertheless takes the view that such a stoppage was not such as to engender a state of acute national crisis in respect of which requisition and mobilisation measures could be justified.
3. 367. As regards the substance of the case, from the information provided it appears to the Committee that the contractual conditions of private teachers are presently regulated by legislative decree and that a further decree is in course of preparation. The existing regulations have, furthermore, been subject to a variety of legal interpretations by a number of courts and other legal bodies. According to the Government there is no possibility that the claim made by the teachers in question for additional security in their employment can be met in the new decree in this connection the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association has made comments concerning systems in which an unduly or excessive legalistic attitude is taken by either government or workers, and has pointed out that such an attitude and the development of harmonious labour relations are incompatible with, and indeed antithetical to, each other. The Commission has also stated that often, even when there is genuine willingness on both sides to co-operate and reach mutual understanding, the inflexible and detailed requirements of the law prevent real progress from being made.
4. 368. In this connection, the Committee would draw the attention of the Government to the terms of Article 4 of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 96), which Greece has ratified, and which provide for the promotion of the voluntary negotiation of collective agreements with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment. The Committee would also draw attention, in particular, to the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 1966 paragraphs 82, 83 and 116 of which envisage the determination of the salaries and working conditions of teachers through the process of negotiation between teachers' organisations and the employers of teachers and the creation of statutory or voluntary machinery for this purpose.
5. 369. The Committee notes that the Government has not replied to the allegations of dismissals of trade unionists as a result of their participation in the strike, and in particular those allegations relating to the dismissal of Mr. C. Volioti, Secretary-General of the Union of Teachers in Private Teaching (Athens and Piraeus) and Mr. M. Kriki, President of the Union of Teachers in Private Teaching (Thessalonica). The Committee has already emphasised that protection against acts of anti-union discrimination is particularly desirable in the case of trade union officials because, in order to carry out their trade union functions in full independence, they must have the assurance that they will not be victimised by virtue of their trade union office. In recommending the Governing Body to draw the attention of these principles and considerations to the Government, it also recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to provide its observations on this aspect of the case.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 370. In all these circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) with regard to the measures of requisition and mobilisation taken by the Government to draw the attention of the Government to the principles and considerations set forth in paragraph 366 above and in particular to the possibilities of abuse involved in the requisition and mobilisation of workers during industrial disputes, and to the undesirability of having recourse to such measures save in exceptional circumstances in order to deal with a situation of acute national crisis;
   • (b) to draw the attention of the Government to the considerations set forth in paragraph 367 above and in particular to the provisions of Article 4 of the Right to organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), ratified by Greece, concerning the promotion of collective bargaining through voluntary negotiation;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the Government to the principles and considerations set forth in paragraph 369 above concerning the protection of trade union officials against acts of anti-union discrimination, and to request the Government to provide information concerning the alleged dismissal of trade unionists, in particular, Mr. C. Volioti and Mr. M. Kriki; and
   • (d) to take note of this interim report.