Definitive Report - Report No 204, November 1980

Case No 961 (Greece) - Complaint date: 20-APR-80 - Closed

1. 56. The complaint of the Federation of Greek Primary School Teachers is contained in a letter of 20 April 1980. The Government sent its observations in a communication of 20 June 1980.
2. 57. 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. Allegations of the complainants

1. 58. The Federation of Greek Primary School Teachers, which claims to represent 38,000 members, alleges in its complaint that Act No. 643/77 respecting the trade union freedoms of officials and employees of public services is in contradiction with the fundamental sections of the Greek Constitution and with the provisions of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).
2. 59. More specifically, the complainant organisation alleges that:
3. (a) the Act was passed in 1977 in the teeth of opposition from the parliamentary opposition and all organisations of officials, with the exception of the Officials' Association (ADEDY);
4. (b) it restricts trade union freedoms and in practice abolishes the right to strike, by introducing an extremely long and complicated procedural system which effectively excludes the possibility of strike action at the most favourable moment, namely when the influence of public officials and the force which they represent in the political life of the country would be most likely to favour the taking of decisions in conformity with their interests.
5. The complainant organisation adds that, in its view, the overwhelming majority of officials' organisations are fighting for the repeal of this Act.
6. B. Reply of the Government
7. 60. In a communication of 20 June 1980 the Government replies that at no time so far, when the national courts have had to examine cases relating to the application of Act No. 643 of 1977, have they found that its provisions were contrary to the Constitution. On the contrary, they have recognised, adds the Government, that the regulation of the right to strike of public officials and the statutory procedure for the exercise of this right are in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution.
8. 61. The Government also claims that Act No. 643 of 1977, read in conjunction with section 23, subsection 2, of the Constitution, grants the right to strike to public officials; it adds that the restrictions on the aims pursued by occupational unions are neither unconstitutional nor contrary to Convention No. 87.
9. 62. The Government admits that Act No. 643 of 1977 prohibits any strikes in sympathy with an external trade union organisation, and that the procedure prescribed by the law for calling a strike by public officials in support of their occupational claims implies the submission of a request to the competent ministers and to the conciliation board. This special conciliation procedure, explains the Government, may in no case last longer than 30 days, and its primary purpose is to seek agreement between the Government delegates and the representatives of trade union associations; secondly, in the event of a disagreement, its purpose is to inform the public of the strikers' claims and the reasons for which they were not accepted by the Government.
10. 63. Furthermore, according to the Government, the prohibition of strikes unconnected with occupational demands or whose purpose is to exert pressure on the Government without being motivated by a labour dispute, do not constitute a violation of freedom of association. In support of this view it cites a number of earlier decisions of the Committee.
11. 64. The Government concludes that the right to strike has not been abolished by the special conciliation procedure, as claimed by the complainant organisation, but that it is exercised freely. There is accordingly no reason to contemplate the repeal of Act No. 643 of 1977 which, in the Government's view, is in conformity with the Constitution and with the International Labour Conventions which Greece has ratified.

C. Conclusions of the Committee

1. 65. Section 5 of Act No. 643 of 1977 respecting the guarantee of freedom of association to officials and employees of the public service and their right to strike grants this right to officials and employees of public services when the strike has been decided upon by their legally constituted organisation for the purpose of promoting their economic and occupational interests. Strikes in sympathy with other striking organisations are prohibited. Furthermore, this legislation denies the right to strike only to magistrates and security officers of the harbour police, the rural police and the central information service.
2. 66. According to sections 6 to 11, the special procedure to be followed before a strike is called includes a conciliation phase which may last 30 days (section 10, clause 4), except where the parties decide to pursue the negotiations by mutual consent (section 8, clause 8). Under section 12 magistrates of the Court of Appeal may, in exceptional circumstances, postpone the start of a strike by a further 20 days. In addition section 13 of the Act requires trade union organisations to set up a skeleton service composed of the staff necessary to maintain the safety of installations and forestall the risks of catastrophe or accident while the strike is going on. Furthermore, the trade union organisations must maintain the staff necessary to the most essential and most appropriate services during the strike, on penalty of three months' imprisonment (section 18, clause 4).
3. 67. Generally speaking, the Committee has, on the one hand, agreed that the right to strike may be restricted or even prohibited in the civil service or in essential services because a strike there could cause serious hardship to the national community. On the other hand, it has pointed out that it would not appear to be appropriate for all publicly owned undertakings to be treated on the same basis in respect of limitations of the right to strike without distinguishing in the relevant legislation between those which are genuinely essential, that is services whose interruption would endanger the existence or well-being of the whole or a part of the population and those which are not essential according to this criterion.
4. 68. In the present case the Act of 1977 grants the right to strike to most officials and employees of the State, with the exception of bodies which are not entitled to enjoy this right, namely the magistracy and the police. It provides for a conciliation procedure which would not appear to impede the exercise of this right and institutes the principle of a skeleton service to be provided by the strikers in order to maintain the most essential and most appropriate services and to maintain the safety of installations and forestall accidents or catastrophes, all of which provisions would appear to be in conformity with the principles of freedom of association.
5. 69. As regards the penalties of imprisonment provided for under section 18 of the Act in the event of illegal strikes, the Committee feels it important to recall that the development of labour relations may be compromised by an inflexible attitude in the application of penalties which are over-severe for strike action and to point out that any penalty should be proportional to the offence committed.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 70. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that, subject to the considerations set forth in the above paragraph, the case does not call for further examination.