Latter-day Luddites
Once upon a time, the law used to be on the side of the worker. Now, the law appears to be at the mercy of the unionists. The violent interruption of the Public Power Corporation’s board of directors’ meeting is ample proof of this. So is blocking a plan for the metro to operate an extra two extra hours a day on weekends. The unionist movement has veered way off course in Greece. Instead of protecting the rights and interests of workers, it has become a stumbling block to all forms of needed change. It does not use dialogue to prove a point, but violence to enforce its will. The problem is that with their behavior unions degrade themselves and Greek society as a whole, just as the Luddites did in 19th century Britain when they believed they could put a halt to progress by destroying machines. Greek society cannot tolerate behavior that undermines the rights of workers as a whole. The reason is that a healthy union movement is necessary and needed by everyone.
