Galery

3

2

1

Marina Nikolova

Once again the technical staff of the Greek private TVs attempts to sign a collective agreement and to end the dismissals. Camera-men, editors, sound technicians, tone-directors, administrative and technical staff have announced a 48-hour strike that began yesterday morning and will continue until the end of the day. Their demands are financial, but they also aim to stop the dismissals of their colleagues from TVs. The technicians who belong to their union organizations besides the technicians of SKY TV joined the strike.

"Our main demand is to sign a collective agreement with favourable terms that will allow us to live with dignity. We want our income to increase by 5%, which is equal to the growth of the inflation rate now," says the chairman of the union of technicians in private TVs in Northern Greece Dimitrios Nasioulis.

"We also ask the owners not to dismiss employees in the next two years, as we gained millions of euros for them in previous years. So far, there were many dismissals that began in the form of voluntary vacating. This means that the people who left received compensation and bonuses in the form of several salaries. Subsequently, there were other dismissals under stricter conditions. 150 technicians worked for the private TV stations of national coverage in Northern Greece last year and now we are about 90 people," explained Mr. Nasioulis.
 
Last week, the technicians held a four-day strike and yesterday a 48-hour strike began. They are determined that if the employers do not enter into dialogue with them, they will continue their protests.

The decision for the strike was taken at the meeting of the union of technicians in private TV stations in Attica. This is not unprecedented and the owners of STAR TV approached the court to decide whether the strike is illegal. At the same time, the employees of ALTER TV stated that they could start their protests anew. The claim against the strike filed in court by STAR TV will be examined today by the Court of First Instance in Athens. The owners of the largest television channel require the strike be declared illegal and argue that the decision for it was not taken by the general meeting of the staff, and also that the staff on duty is insufficient.

Some of the demands of the technicians are to be provided with better working conditions, the salaries that some TVs delay by three months to be paid, and all court claims against them to be withdrawn. Moreover, the unions of the technicians from the private television stations are committed to stop any kind of wage reductions and to end the work without contracts and without insurances for some of their colleagues. They also demand the establishment of equal conditions of payment and health insurance for all technicians from the private and the state television stations, as well as from production companies.

As for the employees of ALTER TV - journalists, administrative staff and technicians, they are still waiting their January salaries to be paid. They stated at the general meeting that despite the constant promises of their employers they are not paid their salaries. According to the Rizospastis newspaper, the owners have promised to pay them after the company completes the negotiations on its debts with the banks.