In November 2007, the Confederation of Public Servants (ADEDY) held its three-yearly conference. It presented demands for improvements in the employment conditions of public sector staff, including: a new pay policy based on the incorporation of pay supplements in basic pay and the introduction of a basic minimum monthly salary at double the current level; restrictions on the use of flexible forms of employment; and an extension of collective bargaining rights.
The Confederation of Public Servants (Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, ADEDY) is the central organisation for public services trade unions. It held its 33rd conference, on 28-30 November 2007, at which it gave a progress report on its activities since its last conference in 2004 and presented its positions and demands regarding the terms and conditions of employment of public servants and the overall organisation of the public administration.
A total of 42 ADEDY-affiliated union federations, with 1,366 member unions, were represented at the conference. The number of members represented was 311,202 (289,125 in 2004). On this basis, union density in the public services is estimated at 50% - 55%.
Progress report
In outlining the main features of the period between its 32nd and 33rd conferences (2004-2007), ADEDY reported increased privatisation and downsizing of the public social services, the break-up of the social insurance system, wages and pensions that have remained at low levels, and swiftly rising prices.
With regard to its activities over 2004-2008, ADEDY underscored:
- its participation in 2006 in mobilisations of university professors and students demanding that tertiary education remain exclusively public in nature;
- its participation in 2007 in strikes and other industrial action called by the Greek General Confederation of Labour (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Εργατών Ελλάδας, GSEE) in opposition to the reform of the social security system for private-sector employees (GR0711019I, GR0801059I, GR0805029I);
- the renewal of its framework of demands with new demands for a minimum decent standard of living, the introduction of a tax system based more on direct taxation, and the creation of ‘social jobs’;
- the enunciation of its position on revision of the Greek Constitution;
- the submission of a study on the reform of the system of collective bargaining in the public sector; and
- the improved operation of ADEDY’s Social Multicentre (Κοινωνικό Πολύκεντρο) as an institute for research and documentation.
Basic positions and demands
At the conference, ADEDY presented its basic positions and demands on a range of issues pertaining to public servants’ terms and conditions of employment and the organisation of the public administration in general.
Pay issues
One of ADEDY’s central, long-standing demands is for the introduction of a single wage scale (GR0806029I). At present, public servants receive a basic salary, depending on their level of education and years of service. On top of this basic amount, a large number of pay supplements have been introduced (press reports put their number at over 100), which are mainly granted on the basis of the worker’s department and occupation. This ‘allowances policy’ has, according to ADEDY, given rise to important disparities in the pay of public servants depending on the department to which they have been appointed.
ADEDY is demanding abolition of the allowance policy, the incorporation of pay supplements in basic pay, and equalisation of public servants’ pay, with a basic minimum monthly salary of €1,300 instead of the current €651.
Employment relationships
In recent years, changes have been made to the system of employment relationships in the public sector. Examples include:
- Law 3174/2003, which introduced part-time work in local authorities and services of a social nature (GR0407101N);
- Law 3429/2005, which provides for a seven-month trial period for newly hired employees of public utilities and services (a sector known as DEKO), on the model of a provision in the 2005 enterprise-level collective agreement at the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (Οργανισμός Τηλεπικοινωνιών Ελλάδας, OTE) – because of the opposition it sparked, this law has not yet been implemented (GR0507101F);
- the introduction of the interview as a criterion for promotion in the public administration, a method that has been criticised by unions as ‘anti-meritocratic’ (GR0706019I); and
- a ruling by the Supreme Court that the civil courts are not competent to rule on the definition of the nature of employment relationships – that is, on whether they are fixed-term or open-ended (GR0702039I).
ADEDY is demanding the following: a restriction on flexible forms of employment (such as part-time employment or contracts to perform specific work); abolition of agency work in the public sector; permanent status for workers who were hired under ‘misleading’ private-law fixed-term contracts (or contracts to perform specific work) which in fact meet fixed and permanent staffing needs; and the creation of an ‘objective’ system of recruitment and a ‘meritocratic’ staffing policy in the public sector.
Social security
By taking part in the strikes and mobilisations organised by GSEE in 2007 against the reform of the social security system for private-sector employees, ADEDY wanted to send a message to the government against a possible reform of the social security system for public-sector employees. However, to date the government has neither confirmed nor denied rumours concerning changes to the system for public servants.
Collective rights
It appears that a central issue for ADEDY in the coming three years will be reform of the legislative framework regarding collective bargaining in the public sector. The current Law 2738/1999 exempts crucial issues from the scope of bargaining, including the structure of services, hiring and pay issues (GR9911155F). ADEDY is demanding that the right to bargain collectively be extended to these issues as well.
Commentary
ADEDY is proposing that the public sector be reinforced and that enterprises of strategic importance should be subject to public and social oversight. ADEDY is also in favour of a restriction of flexible forms of employment and the promotion of new permanent, full-time jobs.
Sofia Lampousaki, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE)