Over 1,000 secondary school teachers staged a militant rally on Wednesday morning at the Athens Education Authority where a Disciplinary Council was to examine the cases of five secondary school teachers.
The five are accused by the Greek Education Minister of ‘disobedience’ and ‘improper behaviour’ in relation to 2025 and 2026 legitimate trade union protests against schools’ and teachers’ ‘evaluation’.
Two teachers, Khrysa Khotzoglou and Dimitris Khartzoulakis, have been placed on forced leave; the other three female teachers of the Fourth Athens Galatsi state secondary school appear before the Disciplinary Council for the first time.
Proceedings could lead to their dismissal.
The National Secondary School Teachers Union’s OLME Congress’ policy is strike-abstention, that is, no co-operation with the Greek government’s policy of ‘evaluation’ which, OLME say, is leading to school closures and the sacking of thousands of school teachers.
In the last five years, government policies of education cuts, privatisation of schools’ services and the imposition of special elite schools run by private businesses, have resulted in hundreds of schools’ mergers and closures in cities and in the countryside throughout Greece.
OLME say that ‘many thousands’ of school teachers are being accused and going through disciplinary proceedings.
OLME’s leaders called just a three-hour stoppage for Wednesday.
At the rally, several teachers condemned OLME’s leadership and demanded a campaign of all-day national strikes.
In 2025 the Greek Education Ministry took disciplinary action against teacher of Greek Khrysa Khotzoglou, a mother of two children, who was ordered to leave her school because she and her students protested against an ‘evaluation’ visit by Ministry officials. It was the first time since the overthrow of the military dictatorship in 1974, when a teacher was punished and thrown out of her school for carrying out OLME’s decisions.
With mass and wide support from her own school, from teachers and from the trade union movement, Khotzoglou appealed and won her case by 5 votes to 0 last year, to go back to teaching at her school.
The Education Minister intervened and ordered a re-examination of Khotzoglou’s case and she was once again placed on enforced leave on 50 per cent of her wages.
Likewise, Dimitris Khartzoulakis, who was punished for refusal to collaborate in ‘evaluation’.
Meanwhile, the right-wing government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has passed through the Vouli (Greek parliament) dictatorial legislation to impose ‘evaluation’.
Trade union representation to educational committees and councils has been abolished.
The cases against the five teachers will be assessed and decided by councillors or advisors employed on private contracts by the Education Ministry.
The government pushes through the hated ‘evaluation’ process throughout the public sector (ministries, local government, state institutions, education) but is facing huge resistance by workers who have seen their salaries cut by government policies and inflation.
The state ELSTAT (statistics) say that prices of basic foods are up 15 -20 per cent compared to last year, while petrol and energy households bills have rocketed by over 25 per cent in the last month.
A general strike was declared for May Day, yesterday, and rallies were to be held in all Greek cities.
Then on 13th May the Public Sector Federation ADEDY have also called a one-day national strike demanding pay rises.
Turkish hotel workers indefinite strike against anti-union employer
A MAJOR labour dispute at the Hapimag Sea Garden Hotel in Bodrum, Turkey has escalated into an indefinite strike, as hundreds of workers walked out following the breakdown of collective bargaining talks organised under the Toleyis union, the strike began on April 24, 2026, after negotiations that started on January 26, 2026 failed to produce an agreement, largely due to the employer’s refusal to present a meaningful offer.
While negotiations reportedly stalled due to the employer’s failure to present a meaningful offer, the dispute is driven by far more serious concerns.
Workers, supported by national and international trade unions, have accused management of systematic violations of trade union rights.
These allegations are now substantiated by an official inspection report by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which identifies clear and serious breaches of labour law.
The report documents direct employer interference in union affairs, including management contacting workers individually to pressure them to resign from the union.
It further points to discriminatory practices linked to union membership and actions that undermine the integrity of the collective bargaining process.
According to Toleyis, the report establishes that, following the mediation phase, the employer offered wage increases and holiday bonuses on the condition that workers resign from the union – an act that clearly constitutes unlawful anti-union pressure.
It further finds that at least 136 workers were subjected to such practices in 2026, confirming a systematic pattern rather than isolated incidents.
The employer was consequently found to be in violation of Turkish law on Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining Agreements, and administrative sanctions were imposed.
Such findings confirm a pattern of anti-union behaviour rather than isolated incidents.
They stand in clear violation of internationally recognised labour standards, including ILO Conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, as well as to Hapimag’s own stated commitments to human rights.
The strike, involving more than 300 workers, is widely regarded as unprecedented in Bodrum’s tourism industry and is already drawing widespread solidarity from trade unions and civil society.
