Heavy-handed side of the unions
Yesterday’s occupation of the offices of the Public Power Corporation’s president and board of directors by workers, orchestrated by union leaders, was not just an act of insolence. Violence is customary for many union representatives, especially those appointed through political or corrupt channels. These state-paid unionists view ministries and public enterprises as their private property, to do with as they see fit. This authoritarian attitude was cultivated after the 1980s, when unionists from the state sector joined the central committee of PASOK and were given a voice in all political matters, often demanding that they be the ones to determine staffing, promotion and payroll matters. Citizens who have suffered unionist heavy-handedness, mainly in the form of unceasing protests and strikes, see no reason why they should put up with it and cannot understand why the government does not condemn it. Public corporations belong to the Greek taxpayer; they are no one’s feudal turf. And if they are not run by professional managers, it is certain that they will collapse.
