Union radicalism versus the nationalist upsurge: the case of Greek shipbuilding workers

Abstract

The recent global economic crisis and the concomitant austerity policy responses exacerbated the position of organized labor, both in terms of inequality in resource allocation and ideological backlash consolidated in the rise of reactionary politics. Resting upon a variety of data (ethnography, administrative data, collective agreements, press material) collected from Greek shipbuilding and ship repairing industry, we reconstruct a case of radical political unionism dealt with employer hostility and escalating far right violence. Despite the inconsistencies noticed, the Trade Union of Metal Workers of Attica and the Shipbuilding Industry of Greece (TUMW) demonstrated an exemplary resilience as regards far right counter-hegemonic practices. However vivid the far right activism might appear, it proved incapable of shaping a nationalist labor union that would dislocate TUMW. This paper tells the story of a battle against social injustice and right-wing extremism and its wider importance for the Greek and global labor movement.