Court Blocks Air Traffic Controllers’ Participation in Greece’s Nationwide Strike

Court blocks aerial postulation controllers from joining nationwide onslaught successful Greece Credit: Alexandros Mpeltes / AMNA

A Greek tribunal has blocked the information of the Hellenic Air Traffic Controllers’ Union (EEKE), successful tomorrow’s 24-hour onslaught successful Greece organized by ADEDY, ensuring that scheduled flights connected Wednesday, October 1, 2025, volition not beryllium affected.

Nevertheless, the onslaught is expected to cause wide disruption crossed Greece. Organized by the country’s largest unions, GSEE and ADEDY, the walkout volition impact nationalist services, schools, hospitals, municipality and intercity transport, ports, and railways.

Teachers’ unions—including the Greek Primary Teachers’ Federation (DOE), the Greek Federation of Secondary Education State School Teachers (OLME), and the Federation of Private School Teachers (OIELE)—have urged members to participate, portion the Panhellenic Federation of Railway Workers (POS) and ferry operators volition besides articulation in.

The onslaught is simply a effect to the government’s caller labour law, which introduces longer workdays, flexible scheduling, and changes to overtime regulations. Union leaders pass that these reforms could summation workloads and trim worker protections, prompting beardown absorption crossed aggregate sectors and wide concern action.

Nationwide onslaught successful Greece: Scope and participation

The nationwide onslaught is expected to importantly disrupt regular beingness crossed Greece. Local authorities offices, hospitals, and schools are apt to acquisition work interruptions, portion municipality transport, railways, ports, and ferries volition beryllium heavy affected.

Teachers’ unions person mobilized their members, and railway and ferry workers are joining, demonstrating the wide cross-sector interaction of the action.

Despite the standard of the strike, aerial question volition proceed uninterrupted owed to the tribunal ruling, highlighting the ineligible and operational complexities progressive successful large-scale labour actions successful Greece.

The labour law: Key provisions and controversy

Unions are protesting the recently passed law, “Fair Work for All,” which introduces large changes to enactment schedules and employment contracts:

• Longer workdays: Employees whitethorn enactment up to 10 hours a time for 4 days a week passim the year.
• Flexible scheduling: Employers tin put moving hours play oregon continuously depending connected operational needs, with employees’ consent.
• Overtime rules: Workers whitethorn beryllium asked to enactment up to thirteen hours per time nether voluntary agreement, with a 40 percent wage increase.
• Worker protections: Employees are protected from dismissal if they garbage other hours, and limits connected play and yearly moving hours stay successful place.

Union leaders reason that these provisions could summation workloads and undermine corporate bargaining, raising concerns astir idiosyncratic fatigue and imaginable exploitation. The law’s flexibility successful scheduling and overtime, they say, shifts powerfulness heavy toward employers, prompting wide opposition.

Economic and societal implications

Economists and labour experts suggest that the onslaught highlights ongoing tensions successful Greece implicit labour betterment and the equilibrium betwixt economical flexibility and workers’ rights. Public assemblage employees, transport workers, and teachers are astatine the forefront, signaling beardown absorption to policies perceived arsenic weakening labour protections.

The ruling against aerial postulation controllers illustrates the ineligible and operational limits of strikes successful indispensable services, portion the broader concern enactment underscores persistent challenges successful labour relations. Analysts enactment that the mode successful which the authorities engages with unions successful the coming months could acceptable the code for labour argumentation and concern stableness successful Greece for years to come.