The activity of the labour movement was visible beyond such mobilizations in factories and rallies, in actions of solidarity from one period to the next.
When there were extensive mobilizations, such those of the workers at Chalyvourgki or Skalistiri, we went around Elefsina and collected food to help support their families. There were times when we would set up a cooking pot inside the Workers’ Center and run a food line.
CHRISTOS SPYROPOULOS | ERGATIKES ISTORIES - SYNTENTEFXEIS ME PROTAGONISTES TOU ERGATIKOU KINIMATOS STIN ELLADA APO TO 1920 EOS TO 1967 (LABOUR STORIES – INTERVIEWS WITH PROTAGONISTS OF THE GREEK WORKERS’ MOVEMENT FROM 1920 TO 1967)
This was also a period of individual battles for the recognition of labour rights within the factories. These weren’t always successful, but they still amounted to acts of resistance by small cells of resistance against powerful businesses. It was also not uncommon for the behavior of individuals inside the factory to lead to small shifts in the balance of power.
I GOT YOU,
YOU GOT ME
IT WAS
CONCLUDED
THAT HE
OUGHT TO
BECOME AN
EMPLOYEE
PRODROMOS THEOCHARIDIS’ MECHANIC’S DEGREE
PRODROMOS THEOCHARIDIS’ FIRING NOTIFICATION FROM TITAN INDUSTRY
The years after 1974 weren’t notable solely because the Colonel's Junta ended, but also due to the conclusion of a situation that was imposed on Greece after the war and was sealed by the Greek Civil War. It was a transition that could not be completed from one day to the next, but gradually. This process was greatly reflected in the relations between workers and employers, the struggles, and the labor movement at large.
SOCIAL BELIEFS
The certificates of social beliefs were official state documents–issued by either the police or the military authorities–which, in essence, certified that a citizen was not a communist. They were introduced to Greek legislation in 1938 during the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas through emergency law 1075 "On security measures of the social regime and the protection of its citizens" that, in practice, constituted a continuation and extension of Venizelos’ "idionymon". This law criminalized the "dissemination, development, and application of theories, ideas, or social, economic, and religious systems" that pursued the overthrow of the “social regime”, as well as the calling of strikes based on such ideas. In fact, according to article 11 of the law, if a person aimed at winning a state scholarship or securing an appointment with a public servant, or with a municipality, community, or legal entity of public law, or even applying for a position in a joint-stock company with reserves of more than 20 million drachmas (this was how many of Elefsina’s industries were set up at the time), this person was required to prove that they did not adhere to the aforementioned "subversive ideas" by submitting a certificate of social beliefs issued by the newly established sub-Ministry of Public Security.
After the liberation from the German occupation, the requirement for a certificate of social beliefs was abolished, at least formally. However, with the onset of the Greek Civil War and the introduction of emergency measures, such as the outlawing of the Greek Communist Party and the formation of military courts, the institution of the certificates of social beliefs was reinstated. This time, it was accompanied by the notorious declaration of loyalty that was instituted by the administration of Themistoklis Sofoulis in 1948 by virtue of emergency law 516 "On the screening for loyalty of civil officers and civil servants". This declaration of loyalty, which was essentially a declaration of nationalism, or, in other words, support for the nationalist faction of the Greek Civil War, was required by all persons employed in the public sector and by employees of private companies and institutions funded by or involved in transactions with the public sector, as was the case for many of Elefsina’s industrial firms. As an example of the consequences of this approach, there was a notable exchange of letters between the General Staff of the Hellenic Army or the Greek gendarmerie and the management of the Greek Powder and Cartridge Company (PYRKAL) during the 1950s about employees "adhering to dangerous leftist beliefs" or, vice versa, who "happen to be loyal". Simply put, if the suffering brought by war wasn’t enough, the workers of Elefsina, many of whom had been active in the resistance as members of EAM, were also forced to overcome the impediment of exclusion from work due to their ideology.
In practice, this post-civil war provision for "loyalty" remained effective throughout the post-civil war period of state reconstruction and the Colonels’ Dictatorship, and it wasn’t abolished until long after the Metapolitefsi (regime change). In fact, in September 1974, the initial government of the Metapolitefsi period, that of Konstantinos Karamanlis, issued the legislative decree 64 "On the details of personal and family status of public servants and the screening for loyalty to the democratic regime of the Country for certain categories of public servants". Based on this decree, those who worked in the public sector, and also in agencies and organizations with responsibilities in the fields of national defence and security–as was the case of the arms industry of PYRKAL–had to fill out a questionnaire that contained questions about social beliefs. In 1978, this law encouraged the National Security Service of the Ministry of Public Order to inform PYRKAL and the Ministry of Industry about an employee at the Elefsina factory who was, since 1963, member of a party with "extreme ideological positions" (this was the party of EDA), had run for the post of a councilman under that party, was member of the trade union of TITAN, and after 1974, that is, after the restoration of democracy, he "publicly expressed himself in favor of the aforementioned party and reads a newspaper that reflects the views of said party" (this was the Communist Party of Greece and its newspaper, Rizospastis). Additionally, in 1979, a Special Board of the Ministry of Industry tasked with judging employees based on the provisions of legislative decree 64 of 1974 notified PYRKAL that 8 of its employees must be dismissed or must not be recruited, because they "happen to be disloyal to the democratic system of the country". The certificates of social beliefs, along with the declarations of loyalty, were finally abolished by the government of PASOK, which, after recognizing the legitimacy of the National Resistance in 1982, enacted law 1400 on the "amendment and addition to employment provisions" in 1983, which abolished the legislation regarding both the declaration of beliefs and the personal file of each employee.
One residue of the situation experienced by the Greek people from the postwar liberation up to and including 1981 is the certificate of social beliefs, which recorded each citizen’s relationships with communism. This certificate often served as a "passport" for finding employment at factories.
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS | 1951
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS | 1949
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS | 1974
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS | 1974
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS | 1979
SO, HE
THOUGHT,
SHE’S A
COMMUNIST,
TOO
What became one of the great legacies of the Metapolitefsi regime, as its processes matured, was the culture of mobilizations and demands for a change in labour relations. The historian Antonis Liakos regards the slogan "Let’s place Metapolitefsi in the factories" as a typical example of this very legacy.
The very first strike that took place in Elefsina during the early days of the Metapolitefsi happened at the National Can factory in October 1974. The strike was also joined by Pakistani workers, which emphasized its internationalist aspects. It was followed by other important strikes in the shipyards and steel mills of Elefsina.
About 500 people worked at National Can: skilled men, women, young girls, apprentices, and Pakistanis. They were paid starvation wages: 147 [drachmas] for women, 172 [drachmas] for men, 90 [drachmas] for minors, around 210 [drachmas] for skilled workers, and 150 [drachmas] for Pakistanis, who weren’t given any social security or medical insurance. Such sums were sufficient only for the trouble of coming and going to and from work. The pace of work was exhaustive. We scheduled a general assembly, but we never got to hold it. The bosses, who had remained in power even after the Junta had fallen, reacted. They fired one of those people who participated in the initiative. The first workers immediately reacted, abandoning their work positions and gathering in the yard. Soon, most workers were amassed in the yard.
OMADA GIA MIA PROLETARIAKI ARISTERA (WORKING GROUP FOR A PROLETARIAN LEFT): I APERGIA TIS NATIONAL CAN, DIDAGMATA-PROOPTIKES (THE STRIKE AT NATIONAL CAN: LESSONS – PERSPECTIVES) | YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1974
ANDREADIS SHIPYARD WORKERS' STRIKE
There was also the great march of the workers at the shipyards, who in 1975 marched from the shipyard to the town. This was followed by strikes of steel workers, and the squatting of the shipyards, which eventually forced Karamanlis to nationalize them, because the shipyards were owned by Andreadis. Andreadis had laid off 700 people. In fact, he mailed the notices of their dismissal to their homes and informed the factory bus to skip their addresses in the morning. He was laying off workers who lived on the same street so that he could save money on morning itineraries.
CHRISTOS SPYROPOULOS | ERGATIKES ISTORIES - SYNTENTEFXEIS ME PROTAGONISTES TOU ERGATIKOU KINIMATOS STIN ELLADA APO TO 1920 EOS TO 1967 (LABOUR STORIES – INTERVIEWS WITH PROTAGONISTS OF THE GREEK WORKERS’ MOVEMENT FROM 1920 TO 1967)
ANDREADIS SHIPYARD WORKERS' STRIKE
ANDREADIS SHIPYARD WORKERS' STRIKE
ANDREADIS SHIPYARD WORKERS' STRIKE
Many notable changes occur in the field of labor over the next years, such as the raising of daily wages, the establishment of the five-day and forty-hour work week, along with the provision of allowances and benefits for hazardous and unhealthy occupations. Another interesting feature of this period is the emergence of an independent, militant trade union movement stemming from factory unions and operating outside the control of the General Confederation of Greek Workers. That was the time of strikes and squats in the factories, an era of political turbulence and a growing political consciousness.
THERE
WERE
GREAT
STRUGGLES
I joined PYRKAL in 1981. I heard an explosion. I wasn’t worried, but I saw others jumping up and thought “why is everyone overreacting?”. A more experienced woman told me: “Listen, girl, this could mean that some people have lost their lives”. And I said: “How did this happen? Was it this bang?”. And it turned out that she was right. Rokas had been killed. After a while, I began to see for myself that there were things missing from the factory and from the demands of the workers. I discovered that a Union existed. I became a member of the Union after two months, and, gradually, my involvement grew. After some time, I was even elected as a members of the Health and Safety Committee, and we started tending to various things [within the factory].
POPI CHRYSOGONDIOU | INDUSTRIAL MEMORIES (2006)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PYRKAL WORKERS
THIS IS
HOW I
GOT INTO
UNIONISM
After Metapolitefsi, and especially through the rise of PASOK in power during the 1980s, the organized labour movement of Elefsina initially won great victories. This led gradually towards its "institutionalization" in the form of more direct dealings with state powers. Elefsina, a major industrial center, stood at the forefront of these developments.