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![]() ![]() Greece Labor Unions https://photius.com/countries/greece/economy/greece_economy_labor_unions.html Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook
The large component of self-employed persons in the labor force and the predominance of small family businesses have impeded the growth of effective labor unions in Greece. Nevertheless, the Greek labor movement grew along with the process of industrialization, and the movement made its presence felt in the interwar and the postwar periods. Labor organization is centered on craft and trade unions limited to a single community. These local units are usually affiliated with national federations in both given industries and in geographic labor centers. The secondary organizations combine in turn to form the national labor body, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (Geniki Synomospondia Ergaton Ellados--GSEE). The GSEE's present membership is about 600,000 persons. The GSEE has long suffered from political interference by parties in power and in opposition. Although the socialist governments of the 1980s took some steps to strengthen the independence of unions, they also continued the tradition of political interference in practice. The strength of the trade unions in the mid-1990s is mostly in employee federations in banking and in public utilities companies, state-owned enterprises, teachers' associations, and associations of transportation and other municipal workers. In the early 1990s, the GSEE played the important role of negotiating national labor agreements with employers' associations (and the government on occasion), establishing the framework for pay increases and other labor benefits for the country as a whole. Thus, in its capacity as national labor representative, the GSEE has taken an important role in issues affecting the management of the economy and the development of human resources as a part of the economy's endowment. Data as of December 1994
NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Labor Unions information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Labor Unions should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA. |
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