All Workers Militant Front (PAME), which represents the class oriented trade union movement of Greece, with a sense of responsibility, denounces in front of the workers and the trade unions, the employers’ tactics and methods to control the trade union movement of Greece.
The last weeks take place the elections of the so called “TRADE UNION” OF WORKERS IN COMMERCE, FOOD & SUPER MARKETS OF ATHENS. It is a union only in name, without action, without announcements, with unknown offices, no telephones and no website, without any massive processes ever. A union that exists nowhere. And yet in this union-mechanism in its previous elections “voted” over 5,000 employees in Athens.
With these votes are elected representatives to the National Federation of Commerce of Greece (UNI Affiliate) and the GSEE and thus play important role in the control of these unions. This union’s elected representatives, though they call themselves “independent”, are actively supporting the government of SYRIZA. The leader of the SYRIZA forces in the Greek Workers’ General Confederation- GSEE (ETUC Affiliate) is elected from this union. This kind of unions the SYRIZA Government wants.
In this union the ballot of candidates are Super Market Managers from various sectors (security, human resources, etc), even Regional and Store Managers. They, along with many others, these days blackmail and intimidate thousands of workers to vote in the elections of this so called “workers’ union”.
The multiple employers’ threats and blackmailing, by taking employees in small offices of the super markers to be “convinced” to vote, internal emails that force workers to participate in the elections, threatening them that there will be “sanctions” and that participation in the elections is “not optional”, they are only examples of this employers’ mechanism. During the elections, the workers arrive in groups of three-five persons, accompanied by people of the employers, by supervisors, executives and people from the security of the Super Markers. They appear without knowing the people who they vote for and for what they vote.
The last weeks, there were dozens of complaints by workers who reported being blackmailed and pressured from Managers and supervisors in order to participate in the elections. These complaints helped to prevent the elections being held in secret as this was the original goal. Elections in secret with no one to monitor and check the procedures and who is behind this union.
There is essentially no registry in the elections of this union-mechanism! Whoever comes in can vote. In the first three days of the elections, more than 60% of the votes cast were not previously members of the union. In essence the elections are being held with the Lists of Personnel, provided by the employers, including whoever they wish. At the same time we denounce the lawyers, who under the new law they have the role of a legal representative in the elections and with their stance, they tolerate such procedures. The lawyers revealed their role by openly supporting (even in Facebook) the political positions of the same forces who support these false elections.
We have the duty not only to protect the thousands of supermarket workers who are coming to the elections under intense intimidation and threats but also, we have responsibility towards the thousands of workers in each sector, as through this union and the intrusion of the employers in the lines of the unions, the workers-trade union movement is getting filthy, the correlations are degraded.
We denounce the employers’ trade unionists that, apart from intimidation, they exploit every kind of lie, in order to bring workers to the elections.
We call on the trade unions of Athens, unions from every industry and sector, to inform, reveal and to denounce the employers’ mechanism.
It is the mechanism that “elects” dozens of representatives to the Federation and the Confederation altering the correlations in favour of the employers.
We call all unionists and workers to visit the elections area, to witness with their own eyes the rottenness and filth, of how the employers try to control the trade union movement.
All unions must demand:
“Out the managers and the employers’ people of the workers’ unions”
“Out the managers and the employers’ people from the workers’ trade union movement”
