It is well known that strikes take place only in the public sector and, very rarely, in the private sector. It is also well known that the public sector, which includes all kinds of public enterprises and organizations, serves the public interest. It serves society.

Finally, it is well known that strikes are called by a handful of party-aligned unionists, not on the basis of workers' interests, but on the basis of party interests. In other words, a tiny minority decides against the overwhelming majority of workers.

As for strikes in the public sector, they have small or large consequences for society, depending on the usefulness, monopolistic character, and so on, of the enterprise or organization. There are strikes that effectively hold society hostage.

For example: when DEI had a monopoly, some unionists would pull the switches and the country would be paralyzed. In addition, the unionists, to prove who was running DEI, would make "incursions" into the company's offices, bullying people like true thugs.

Therefore, there is a need to move from irresponsible to responsible unionism. The new labor law helps in this direction, as it contains several common-sense provisions and addresses several chronic pathologies, such as:

A) Protection of society as a whole from strikes. At last, the obvious is regulated, namely that a public service must not come to a complete halt when a strike is declared. Thus, in every strike in public utilities, minimum staffing will be mandatory.

B) Prohibition of re-declaring an illegal strike. A chronic schizophrenia comes to an end. Thus, if the courts rule that a strike is illegal, it may not be re-declared by a secondary or tertiary union organization.

C) Implementation of the digital work card. With the digital card, a demand of GSEE, undeclared work and undeclared overtime are addressed.

D) Equalization of compensation for employees and manual workers. Severance pay for blue-collar workers is increased and aligned with that of salaried employees. At last, an unacceptable and anachronistic distinction between employees and workers is abolished.

E) Measures against violence and harassment. Preventive and repressive measures are taken to address violence and harassment at work, through ratification of the relevant International Labour Organization Convention.

F) Measures for the health and safety of workers. The relevant International Labour Organization Convention on health and safety at work is ratified.

The bill, which is likely to be voted on in Parliament in the coming days, apart from the improvements above, also includes additional changes that modernize labor legislation, such as:

A) Measures for transparency in unionism. Among them are the possibility of remote participation by workers and the registration of trade unions in official registries.

B) The establishment of the Labor Inspectorate as an independent administrative authority, so that it does not depend on the current minister of labor.

C) An end to the arbitrariness and impunity of unionists. Unionists will be civilly liable when they use violence or otherwise unlawful acts during strikes.

D) An end to the collusion of unions with parties and employers. Support for trade unions by employers and parties is prohibited. Of course, there is a difference between parties showing solidarity with union demands and unions being dependent on parties.

In the postwar period there was a golden age of unions. And yet, Greek unions did nothing to develop a "workers' consciousness." Bound to the parties, they took care of party interests and ignored the real interests of workers.

The new labor bill is for workers, not against them. First of all, measures are being taken in favor of workers. In addition, labor legislation is being modernized and aligned with the laws of the most advanced European countries.

By constitutional mandate, the government is responsible for governing the country and solving problems. The opposition's task is opposition. And the people demand a faster pace and reforms in every sector from the government.

Paulos Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com