Lost in the Ocean of Deregulation?

Abstract

Résumé de l'article La crise financière de 2008 a eu un impact énorme sur l'économie et la société grecques. Depuis 2010, de grandes mobilisations populaires ont émergé contre les mesures d'austérité du plan de sauvetage que la troïka des créanciers (UE-BCE-FMI) a proposé aux gouvernements grecs. Pourtant, les syndicats institutionnels ont échoué à empêcher la réduction des revenus des salariés, à hauteur de 50% en 2013 par rapport à ceux de 2008. En outre, ils furent largement incapables de confirmer leur rôle de leader dans les mobilisations des classes ouvrières et des salariés. Dans cet article, nous examinons les raisons de l'échec des syndicats institutionnels à répondre de manière adéquate au défi de l'austérité. Nous considérons que l'explication de cet échec réside dans les défis et les problèmes génériques auxquels les syndicats contemporains sont confrontés -dont la littérature internationale a documenté le sujet -, ainsi que dans les particularités et les caractéristiques spécifiques du contexte socio-politique grec. Ensuite, nous étudions les alternatives proposées par des groupes de militants et des travailleurs de la base, par exemple, des associations de quartier formées par des travailleurs, des syndicats d'entreprise composés par des travailleurs précaires et des entreprises autogérées en état d'occupation. Après avoir identifié les points forts de leur contribution, ainsi que les problèmes et les défis auxquels ils sont confrontés, nous concluons qu'une approche diversifiée et innovante est requise, au nom du mouvement ouvrier, afin de simultanément tenir compte et exploiter toute source de pouvoir ouvrier. L'article conclut qu'un processus de rapprochement stratégique entre les syndicats traditionnels et radicaux est nécessaire en Grèce. After identifying the strong points of the latter's contributions, as well as the problems and challenges they are facing, the authors conclude that a diversified and innovative approach is required on the part of the labour movement in order to simultaneously address and exploit all sources of workers' power. the emergence of radical unionism in large urban areas is a fortunate development, but cannot be transplanted as a recipe for success in itself. A process of strategic rapprochement between mainstream and radical unions in Greece is necessary.

Trade Unions in the European Union

“…At the same time, Greek industrial relations seemed to confirm some of the assumptions behind the 'Mediterranean varieties of capitalism' approach (Amable 2003), namely that 'a history of heavy state regulation may weaken the capacity of local actors to autonomously coordinate their activities' (Molina and Rhodes 2007). This was facilitated by the regulatory framework itself, in respect of the restrictive rules regarding the establishment of unions at the workplace, further encouraging recourse to political mobilization and general strikes (Kretsos and Vogiatzoglou 2015).…”

“…It is important to clarify here that there is no publicly available data on trade union membership since 2016. This chapter seeks to complement the extensive literature on trade unions in Greece from the perspective of 'Hyman's triangle' (Bithymitris and Kotsonopoulos 2018;, the power resource approach (Vogiatzoglou 2018), social-movement theory (see Malamidis 2021) and grassroots unionism (Kretsos and Vogiatzoglou 2015). There is also an extensive labour-law literature documenting the far-reaching post-2010 deconstruction of the protective character of Greek collective labour law and the associated use of law to restrict unions' functional space (Katsaroumpas 2018;Koukiadaki and Kokkinou 2016a;Papadimitriou 2013;Yannakourou and Tsimpoukis 2014).…”

“…It essentially reduced the incentive for certain unions at primary level to be part of the overall structure of GSEE, constraining even further the institutional power of the third-level federation and precipitating a crisis of credibility from the workers' point of view (Kapsalis 2012: 9). At the same time, this was combined with the intensification of grassroots movements at company level, with mixed results (Kretsos and Vogiatzoglou 2015).…”

“…During 2010-2012, there was intense strike activity through general strikes (Kretsos and Vogiatzoglou 2015) and more conflictual actions (Papanikolopoulos et al 2018), coinciding with the various rounds of proposed legislative reforms. This surge in strike activity was integrated into a wider mobilization strategy of resistance to austerity, along with 'demonstrations, clashes with the police and protests in the majority of Greek cities', to be followed by the Indignados movement, labour mobilization and civil disobedience (Psimitis 2011;Sergi and Vogiatzoglou 2013: 224).…”

Employee Trust in Management: Evidence from the Greek Private and Public Sectors

“…Consequently, in micro-enterprises, there has been a dramatic spread of individual agreements between the employer and single employees. Following the above, and with regard to collective bargaining, the Greek trade union movement is threatened and faces one of the most difficult periods since its foundation (Kretsos & Vogiatzoglou, 2015).…”