In what is seen as imperative by the port’s managers, the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), has reportedly agreed, in principle, with union locals a new general labour code, aimed at liberalising the decades-old regime that existed under the former state-run administration.
A new labour code, incorporating a new collective bargaining agreement, is set to be in place by the September deadline.
The new contract, which has 21 articles, defines the rights and obligations of both sides, and fulfils the Chinese shipping giant's oft-repeated intention of making Piraeus more competitive and efficient through a more flexible work schedule, such as instituting a flat eight-hour shift with overtime paid thereafter. The port's organisational chart is also revised and updated, while the manner in which individual work contracts are terminated also changes.
A highlight of the new work regime is a seven-day-a-week schedule at the port, with workers on a five-day alternating schedule. Weekends and holidays are not considered as eligible for overtime pay if a shift is part of a worker's five-day schedule.
However, not everyone is happy with the way things are shaping. It has emerged one in four PPA employees has expressed an interest in transferring to the broader state sector. Indeed, the PPA and the country’s Shipping and island Policy Ministry feared up to 30% of the 1,088 employees could express the wish to depart, though less than a handful of requests come from administrative employees and engineers, with the vast majority coming from technical staff.
PPA ceo Captain Fu has told Shipping Minister, Panagiotis Kouroumplis that labour peace is a key element of the PPA development plan for the port.
Kouroumplis says the Ministry unequivocally supports working peace and wants to restore the image of the shipbuilding zone, noting to achieve this, a spirit of cooperation between employers and workers in the zone is necessary. He stressed the ministry supports workers' rights, but employees must understand their obligations.
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