Unions cannot play boss
The General Federation of Employees of the Public Power Corporation (GENOP) is a classic example of what is wrong with Greece’s state-owned enterprises and the problems they are facing today. This labor union has succeeded over the past few decades in gaining considerable control of the management and the operation of one of Greece’s biggest enterprises, getting it to run almost entirely on state funds and threatening a succession of administrations with widespread blackouts whenever things do not go its way or decisions are made that will change the status quo at PPC. But this is a situation that can no longer be tolerated, as PPC, along with other state-owned enterprises, are money pits that will never turn a profit unless things change radically. The labor groups need to understand how dire the situation is and limit their activities to their assigned institutional role rather than playing the part of the boss. After all, it is this kind of mentality that has driven these companies into ruin.
