INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION
ITUC Condemns Latest Attack on Greek Workers’ Rights
Brussels, 28 January 2013 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has condemned the Greek government’s use of wartime emergency powers
to break a week-long strike by metro transit workers in the capital city of Athens. On 25 January, riot police moved in
and forced workers back to work under the threat of arrest. This is the latest of a series of measures taken by the
government that severely undermine the fundamental rights of workers in stark violation of international conventions to
which Greece is a party.
In November 2012, the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued a strong rebuke over the measures the Greek
government had already taken, at the insistence of the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission and
European Central Bank, which all but eliminated collective bargaining machinery that has taken generations to build.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said “Enough is enough. The Troika’s misguided and illegal policies are creating
long-term social and economic damage to an entire generation. Forcing people to work under threat of arrest will only
produce more misery and instability.”
The metro workers’ strike is not just a reaction to pay-cuts being forced on them. It is about the government’s
disregard of existing collective agreements and the threat of being pushed into a new uniform public sector wage scheme
imposed by the Troika.
The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 308 national affiliates.
Follow us on the web: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI
ENDS