OKDE Spartakos: No to the Criminalization of Union Activity Victory to the Struggle of the Dismissed Colleague

In this article, comrades from OKDE Spartakos of Greece, with the signature of Workers'  Solidarity Committee at Yes! Stores, bring attention to a recent workers' rights violation in Thessaloniki by a Yes! Stores executive. As the aggressive privitization efforts and endless underminings of even the most basic workers' rights get more common all around the world, we feel the obligation to share this article with our readers and declare our solidarity with our Greek comrades and class brothers.

The colleague at a Yes! Stores shop is demanding payment of wages owed to him according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for food service businesses. After he filed a complaint with the Labor Inspectorate, the employer began cutting his workdays to push him to resign. Following the mobilizations of the Workers’ Solidarity Committee at Yes! Stores, during a scheduled meeting with the employer intended to settle part of the owed wages, the employer orchestrated the arrest of the worker and another colleague (a member of the Food & Tourism Workers’ Union of Thessaloniki), on the false charge of extortion.

The police, with threats, bullying, and insults, dragged the colleagues to the Thessaloniki Police Headquarters (GADTH), first stopping at the worker’s home to attempt an illegal, warrantless entry. The employer tried to set up a frame-up, aiming to present the colleagues in court and to the press as extortionists and criminals.

At the trial, the employer’s fabrication collapsed spectacularly. Unionists exposed the truth: that this is an employer who refuses to pay what is legally owed and tries to turn the victims into perpetrators. At the same time, there was a large support movement, with people showing solidarity outside the courthouse and with many statements of support from numerous unions and student associations.

The employer and the government continue their attacks. After the trial, the employer proceeded to dismiss the colleague. A few days later, during a protest outside the Yes! Stores, the employer filed a lawsuit for defamation, and in cooperation with all branches of the police (riot police, special forces, plainclothes officers), 28 (!) supporters were arrested. They were then dragged to the police headquarters. The prosecutor, unable to ignore the absurdity of the case, did not impose summary proceedings but initiated a preliminary investigation instead.

The employer, together with the government — which backs them — aims to fully criminalize union activity and to impose the doctrine that anyone who protests or demands their wages owed must be dragged into court. They want to turn the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest into a “crime” and to ban it in practice.

Meanwhile, the government ensures that those involved in the Tempi train disaster remain completely unpunished, while none of the absurdly rich New Democracy officials involved in countless scandals (e.g., OPEKEPE) have been handcuffed. At the same time, they hunt down and arrest the strikers, such as the seafarers of PENEN, subject teachers to disciplinary action or send the security police to abduct them. They make sure that workers who challenge the “right” of employers to violate labor law are constantly dragged through the courts.

This is the “law” of the scandal-ridden government and the “justice of the employer.”
We will not let them get away with it!

• The Frame-Up Must Collapse! The Fabricated Charges Must Be Dropped!

• The 28 Supporters and Unionists Must Be Acquitted!

• All Wages Owed Must Be Paid Immediately!

• The Collective Bargaining Agreement for Food Service Businesses Must Be Enforced!

WORKERS’ SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE AT YES! STORES

11 July 2025

Retrieved from: https://www.okde.gr/archives/24159 on 19 July 2025