Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday defended a revision to the relevant labor law as a “compromise” with creditors, saying the prospect of allowing “lockouts” or a full liberalization of the regime governing redundancies in the private sector was avoided.
Tsipras said the memorandum-mandated revision demands a 50-percent attendance of dues-paying union members at a general assembly convened to consider an industrial action, rather than an absolute majority (50 percent + 1) in any subsequent vote. The leftist political leader, speaking in Parliament, said the need for a majority in any vote – regardless of the percentage of members voting – for a strike remains.
On his part, main opposition main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for stricter provisions governing the holding of strikes in the country – a statement that more-or-less echoed the substance of the ultimately ratified legislation.
“We want strikes decided by the many, not the few,” he said during the debate in Parliament.
Nevertheless, Mitsotakis demanded that the actual decision require an absolute majority of all dues-paying union members via an electronic vote, and “without the procedure of a (general assembly) quorum”.
“We don’t have ideological blinders on… An employee’s gain is when a business is going well…” he said. ND’s MPs voted down the amendment.
