The association representing Greek passenger ship-owners (SEEN) on Friday called on the relevant shipping ministry in the country to take all “necessary measures” to against protestors attempting to prevent vessels from disembarking – a favorite tactic of labor groups over the years.
The plea comes ahead of the peak of the annual holiday season in the east Mediterranean country, which has scores of island destinations.

The leadership of the association pointed a recent attempt by no more than a score of protestors, ostensibly representing a coastal seafarers union, to prevent a Crete-bound ferry boat from departing the port of Piraeus.

Even though a Piraeus first instance court ruled the industrial action illegal, in line with a “wildcat strike”, the protesters nevertheless persisted, only to be confronted by angry passengers. The vessel finally departed after about an hour of delay.

In part, the original declaration for a strike, which was declared illegal, was then re-issued by the Athens Labor Center, the next level of the union hierarchy in Greece, utilizing a “loophole” in the law that the current government promised to close.

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