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Marina Nikolova 

The strike of the Hellenic Petroleum’s employees raised the question about their salaries, and the fear that the Greek market would be left without fuel. The company workers went on strike from the 3^rd of April demanding the appointment of new staff for the new units at the refinery in Thessaloniki, claiming that this is for security reasons, and their salaries and benefits to be kept. The strike will take place in the three refineries of the company in Thessaloniki, Aspropyrgos and Elefsina.

The company employees announced data published in the media, according to which their salaries are much higher than those of their colleagues from Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy, while the company’s productivity is between 30% and 60% lower than that of the refineries in France, Scandinavia, Holland, and Spain. According to the administration of Hellenic Petroleum, the new collective agreement will have to contribute to the improvement of the competitiveness of the company as the entry of new players from third countries increased the competition in the wider geographical area. Meanwhile, according to Naftemboriki, fuel consumption in Greece dropped to rates reaching 20%.
 
"Our employees are paid salaries that exceed those of their German and Dutch colleagues, and they work 15% fewer days per year in a very competitive environment, but this can not continue like this," commented the managing director of EL.PE. Yannis Kostopoulos said to Naftemboriki. The company said in turn that the workers use the security of the new refineries in Thessaloniki as a pretext because of the lack of staff.

The annual salary starts from 33,000 euros and reaches 139,000 euros, while the technical staff salaries start from € 37,900 and reach 104,300 euros, reports Ethnos. The high salaries of the workers are justified because of the high profits of the company, but of the hard working conditions too, and they receive a number of benefits.

The fuel stocks will meet the market demand for 10-12 days, according to the EL.PE. management, which means that there will be possible shortages if the strike continues more days and there is no supply of fuel from Motor Oil, reports Eleftherotypia. There is fear of rising fuel prices since the strike begins at a time when the international market price of oil is at record levels, which resulted in an average of 1.675 euros per liter unleaded gasoline two days ago. On the occasion of the strike, GRreporter asked the Union of Hellenic Petroleum employees to comment on it and here is what the secretary of the union Thomas Kotsias told us:

What are the main demands that made you go on strike?
 
We are on strike because we disagree with our company Hellenic Petroleum in connection with the appointment of workers in the new units of the refinery opened in Thessaloniki and Aspropyrgos. This is a huge plant, a big investment is being made and the refineries are actually twice as large. The project in Thessaloniki ended two years ago and we stated that the designed functioning of the new units does not meet the security requirements. We refer to our very bad experience with tragedies, accidents and fatal accidents. The company has a different opinion, but we stated that we will not allow these new units to start operating. They did not believe us and when the time came to put the units into operation, we said that this will not happen and we started the strike. The opening of the new units of the refinery coincided with the negotiations for the new collective agreement. These days we were falsely accused by the media that we receive high salaries and even "bachelor" bonuses, which is not true. This "cannibalism" led to problems in our families and when our children go to school, the others watch them as children of "thieves". The company presented the new contracts with the revenues cut by about 40%, which will completely change our lives and we do not accept this. To turn the public opinion against us, they submitted false information that we receive a "bachelor" bonus, which does not exist, and talk about super-high salaries of up to 77,000 euros for people with 35 years of service and permanent duties. I submitted my tax return to the television and the document shows that my gross pay does not exceed 55,000 euros. And we are talking about working inside the refinery, which is a heavy industry, and in an environment hazardous to health, a very complicated job that can not be compared to anything else. We are fighting to protect our dignity and the truth. We are determined to continue the strike and the three refineries gradually stop working. The refineries need 4-5 days to stop working and further ten days to begin to operate again. We had a meeting with the managing director of Hellenic Petroleum Ioannis Kostopoulos yesterday which went well but we reached to no agreement. We are hurt of what is happening but we have no other way to defend ourselves.

How many people should be appointed for greater security at the refinery in Thessaloniki?

We are talking about employing a few people in a company with 150 managers, in which there is 1 manager per every 15 people. We want ten people to be appointed and one huge complex to be divided into two, because it takes 14-15 minutes to walk it from the one end to the other. This is our request and to discredit us the company told about this "bachelor" bonus which lit the "red" light under the logic of hounding unemployed against employed and those who receive small salaries against others who receive higher ones. This is the bet, which we believe is irresponsible for such a company as the refinery, where the people give their souls to work in these complexes. We are condemned by those who only go by the refinery and feel its smells, and we work in it with a mask, hanging on our belts.

Your salaries were published in the media and how would you comment on these data?

We receive 17 salaries, but it is on "paper" only. But the people who were cut their 13^th and 14^th salaries say "see what happens"! First, we are a private company, which is very important because it relates to where the money they want to cut will go. I'll tell you how it happened that we receive 17^th salary which is not the fact. Hellenic Petroleum is the result of the merger of five companies - the old Hellenic Petroleum, the Aspropyrgos refinery, the old Eco, the old Petrola, DEP and ELPET. The staff signed a contract when they merged and a single scale of payment was introduced. If an employee was paid 400,000 drachmas, this same employee is paid less according to the new contract. The daily wage is determined in accordance with the monthly salary and the wage for the duties is calculated on the base of the daily wage. So, in order the company to gain and the employee not to lose his money, the employer said that the employee will be paid lower monthly salary, but at the end of the year will receive 50,000 drachmas additionally. There are still pending cases at the court in this regard but we did not want this to happen. We work 21 days per month without having weekends. We work 12 hours 20 days and that is why we have high wages, and for many years we have said that it is better for the company to pay us over-time instead of giving work to more employees. Our payment can be compared neither with the private sector, nor with the public. Only with Vardinoyanis, but we work at the refinery. The conditions here are different. We had 15 deaths in Petrolko in 1992 year, four in Thessaloniki in 1998, one in 1999, one in Aspropyrgos in 2009. Not to mention the labour accidents which occur almost for different reasons daily. We work in a company where work is hazardous to health and it is dangerous.

This is the nature of the work at the refinery, but do you think that the conditions could be improved?

Sure. That is why we say that the workers need to be trained very well as mistakes are not allowed. It takes 5-6 years to train an operator to be able to cope with difficult situations when necessary. And to be constantly trained to maintain the level, because new units open up.

Why do they want to cut your payments by 40%?

We are currently negotiating. They want to cut all bonuses - for service, duties, all that exist. We have no requests for increases, but we do not want cuts to be made because the company is profitable. If our salaries are cut, this will affect the country as our contributions to the insurance funds will fall. In our tax returns, because we have good salaries and because of the duties, many of us are in the highest income brackets and we pay 40% income tax. The reduction in our salaries will lead to a decline in the profit of the tax office. But why should they reduce our wages? To benefit themselves from the crisis that they caused? The refinery does not stop working during holidays and weekends. That is why we are paid this allowance for duty. I have not celebrated Easter with my family six years. This depends on the cycle of the work and the duties. If you ask me for 2015, I will look at my schedule and I can tell you whether I will work on Easter.

What are the consequences of this kind of work for your families?
 
I remember the big earthquake in Athens, I was on duty. The earthquake happened at 3:10 in the afternoon, my shift had just started. The ground began to swing at 3:10 pm and we tried to save the refinery and nobody knew whether our families were alive. But at that moment, we did not think where our children were, because we had to apply the security measures at the refinery and make it safe. Fortunately, there were no problems. Our social contacts always depend on the shifts and we adjust the things according to our working hours and shifts. Not to mention our health. I suffer from chronic insomnia. Because I have just adapted to working in the morning and just got used to it, and the shifts rotate and I have to work at night. I need four days to adapt when all this ends, and take sleeping pills. And now they make me feel like I have to justify the money I get by making me at daggers drawn with pensioners and unemployed.