The containment of labour in accelerated global supply chains: the case of Piraeus Port

Pavlos Hatzopoulos, null; Nelli Kambouri, null; Ursula Huws, null

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.8.1.0005

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 8, Issue 1

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The containment of labour in accelerated global supply chains: the case of Piraeus Port

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Author(s): Pavlos Hatzopoulos , Nelli Kambouri , Ursula Huws

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

This article presents a case study of the sale of two of the three piers at the formerly state-owned container port of Piraeus, in Greece to a Chinese company, COSCO, formng a crucial hub in the transit of goods to European markets, and examines the impacts on labour. It places this study in the context of the global consolidation, restructuring and acceleration of supply chains as well as in the specific context of privatisation of infrastructure and deregulation of labour in Greece in the aftermath of the debt crisis. Anatomising the tangled dynamics of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation, it illustrates the complexity of the interrelationships between specific local factors and global forces in reshaping work. It also shows how the fragmentation of labour resulting from these impacts makes it easy for global corporations in the logistics sector both to consolidate their power and to evade contemporary forms of labour mobilisation. After chronicling the forms of resistance adopted by workers at the port, the article concludes by reflecting on the implications for organisation along the increasingly tightly integrated supply chains which link the labour of production workers with that of logistics workers.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Summer 2014

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Pages: 5-21

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.8.1.0005

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.8.1.0005

SO-VID: 918c9262-8c94-461e-8d2e-cd55f1538c4a

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Adinolfie, J (2013) ‘Why is Amazon (AMZN) Deal with US Postal Service Sealed?’, International Business Times , November 11. Accessed on June 9, 2014 from: http://www.ibtimes.com/why-amazon-amzn-deal-us-postal-service-sealed-1465008.

[2] Andrijasevic R. & D. Saccheto (2013) ‘China may be far away but Foxconn is in our doorstep’, Open Democracy . Accessed on August 19, 2014 from: https://www.opendemocracy.net/rutvica-andrijasevic-devi-sacchetto/china-may-be-far-away-but-foxconn-is-on-our-doorstep.

[3] Armstrong and Associates (2013) ‘Eighty six percent of the Fortune 500 use 3PLs as global market’, July 12. Acessed on 11 June, 2014 from: http://www.mhi.org/media/news/12685.

[4] Batsoulis, D. (2014) Interview by the authors with fired ex-PCT employee, February 16.

[5] BBC Panorama (2013) The Truth behind the Click , first shown 8.30 p.m. November 25.

[6] Bellos, I. (2014) ‘Piraeus port becomes Med's third biggest in container traffic’, Kathimerini , January 19. Accessed on August 19, 2014 from: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_29/01/2014_536928.

[7] Bensinger, G. & L. Stevens (2014) ‘Amazon, in Threat to UPS, Tries its own Deliveries,’ Wall Street Journal, April 24. Accessed on June 9, 2014 from: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579521522792859890.

[8] China Labor Watch (2010) The Tragedy of the Foxconn Sweatshop. Accessed on June 7, 2014 from: http://chinalaborwatch.org/pro/proshow-98.html.

[9] Christopher, M. (2013) Logistics and Supply Chain Management , Harlow: Pearson.

[10] Clifton, J. & D. Diaz-Fuentes (2008) ‘The new public service transnationals: consequences for labour’, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation , 2 (2): 23–39.

[11] Efimerida ton Sydakton (2014) ‘Strike in the Cosco Paradise’, July 18. Accessed on August 7, 2014 from: http://www.efsyn.gr/?p=218083.

[12] Ekathimerini (2014) ‘Union calls for strike at Cosco-controlled Dock in Piraeus’. August 18. Accessed on August 19, 2014 from: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_18/07/2014_541505

[13] Enet (2014) ‘Cosco: The strike pushed for a reaction’. Accessed on August 7, 2014 from: http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=439896.

[14] Flecker, J., U. Holtgrewe, A. Schönauer, W. Dunkel & P. Meil (2007) Restructuring across value chains and changes in work and employment: Case study evidence from the Clothing, Food, IT and Public Sector , Report from the WORKS Project, Leuven: HIVA.

[15] Georgakopoulos, G. (2014) Interview by the authors with president of OMYLE, April 3.

[16] Gogos, G. (2014) Interview by the authors with General Secretary of OLP dockworkers Union, February 12.

[17] Greenfield, J. (2013) ‘Amazon Partners with U.S. Post Office To Deliver Packages on Sunday’, Forbes , November 11^th. Accessed on June 9^th, 2014 from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/11/11/amazon-partners-with-u-s-post-office-to-deliver-packages-on-sunday/

[18] Greenhouse, E. (2014) ‘An S.O.S in a Saks Bag’, The New Yorker, June 3. Accessed on 7 June, 2014 from: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/06/an-sos-in-a-saks-bag.html

[19] Hatzopoulos, P. and Kambouri, N. (2014) ‘The Logistical City from Above’, Logistical Worlds . Accessed on August 19, 2014, from: http://logisticalworlds.org/?p=216.

[20] Head, S. (2014) ‘Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon's sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers’, Salon , February 23. Accessed on June 7, 2014 from: http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/.

[21] Hermann, C. (2014) ‘Deregulating and Privatizing Postal Services in Europe: The Precarisation of Employment and Working Conditions’, Global Research , January 1.

[22] Hodal, K., C. Kelly, F. Lawrence, C. Stuaart, T. Remy, I. Baqué & M. O'Kane (2014) ‘Revealed: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK’, Guardian Multimedia Investigation , 10 June. Accessed on 11 June, 2014 from: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2014/jun/10/slavery-supermarket-supply-trail-prawns-video.

[23] Hof, R. (2012) ‘Jeff Bezos: How Amazon Web Services Is Just Like The Kindle Business’, Forbes , 29 November. Accessed on June 10, 2014 from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/11/29/jeff-bezos-how-amazon-web-services-is-just-like-the-kindle-business/.

[24] Huws, U. (2012) ‘Crisis as Capitalist Opportunity: New Accumulation through Public Service Commodification, Socialist Register : 64–84.

[25] Huws, U., S. Dahlmann, J. Flecker, U. Holtgrewe, A. Schonauer, M. Ramioul & K. Geurts (2009) Value chain restructuring in Europe in a global economy , Report from the WORKS Project, Leuven: HIVA.

[26] Jacobs, A. (2013) ‘Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp’, New York Times. Accessed on June 7th, 2014 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/world/asia/man-details-risks-in-exposing-chinas-forced-labor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

[27] Kanngieser, A., B. Neilson, N. Rossiter (2010) ‘What is a Research Platform?, Transit Labour , June 8. Accessed on June 12, 2014 from: http://transitlabour.asia/blogs/what-research-platform.

[28] Kirby, J. & T. A. Stewart (2007) ‘The Institutional Yes: and Interview with Jeff Bezos’, Harvard Business Review Magazine , October. Accessed on June 10, 2014 from: http://hbr.org/2007/10/the-institutional-yes/ar/1.

[29] Kousta E. (2010) ‘Strikes end at Pireaus Port Authority following Concession Agreement’ European Industrial Relations Observatory on-line . Accessed on August 18, 2014 from: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2009/12/articles/gr0912019i.htm

[30] Mihalakas, I. (2011) ‘Chinese “Trojan Horse” – Investing in Greece, or Invading Europe?’, Accessed on August 19, 2014, from http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/01/15/chinese-%E2%80%98trojan-horse%E2%80%99-investing-in-greece-or-invading-europe-part-i/.

[31] Mylonas P. (2013) ‘Container Ports: An Engine for growth’ sectoral report National Bank of Greece. Accessed on August 18, 2014 from: https://www.nbg.gr/greek/the-group/press-office/e-spot/reports/Documents/Container_Ports_2013.pdf.

[32] National Center for Policy Analysis (2014) Air Transportation Privatization , April 4. Accessed on 9 June, 2014 from: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=24280.

[33] Neilson, B. & N. Rossiter (2008) ‘Precarity as a Political Concept, or, Fordism as Exception’, Theory, Culture & Society , 25 (7–8): 51–72.

[34] Phillips, L. (2011) ‘Greece unveils fire-sale of government assets’, EU Observer , May 24. Accessed on June 12th, 2014 from: http://euobserver.com/economic/32385.

[35] Port Technology International (2014) ‘Piraeus becomes Med's third largest for container traffic’, Port Technology International , January 31. Accessed on June 12, 2014 from: http://www.porttechnology.org/news/piraeus_becomes_meds_third_largest_for_container_traffic#.U5m5qnbLJ9s

[36] Rapti E. (2007) ‘Workers take strike action to prevent privatization of port operations’, European Industrial Relations Observatory on-line . Accessed on 18 August, 2014 from: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2007/01/articles/gr0701029i.htm.

[37] Rombolis, S (2013) ‘The Chinafication of Labour?, Ta Nea , April 16. Accessed on June 12, 2014 from: http://www.tanea.gr/opinions/all-opinions/article/5012229/kinezopoihsh-ths-ergasias/.

[38] Rushe, D. (2014) ‘Amazon pulls Warner Bros movies from sales as trade dispute expands’, Guardian , 11 June. Accessed on June 12th, 2014 from: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/11/amazon-warner-bros-price-hachette-lego-movie.

[39] Smith, H. (2014) ‘Chinese carrier Cosco is transforming Piraeus – and has eyes on Thessaloniki’, Guardian , 19 June. Accessed on August 19th, 2014 from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/china-piraeus-greece-Cosco-thessaloniki-railways.

[40] Ta Paidia tis Galarias (2013) ‘Chinese capital goes to Greece’. Accessed on August 19th, 2014 from: http://www.gongchao.org/en/texts/2013/chinese-capital-goes-greece.

[41] Vamvakidis, T. (2013) ‘Piraeus Container Terminal S.A - the South East Gate of Europe’ presentation to European Maritime Week Conference, June 6. Accesssed on June 12, 2014 from: http://www.slideshare.net/jmceunipi/tassos-vamvakidispiraeus-container-terminal-sa-the-south-east-gate-of-europe.

[42] Vamvakidis, T. (2014) Interview by the authors with PCT commercial director, January 20.

[43] Vatikiotis, L. (2014) ‘Cosco: An Anatomy of a “Successful” Privatisation’ [in Greek], Unfollow . Accessed on July 7, 2014 from: http://unfollow.com.gr/print/magazine/3114-unfollow-18/.

[44] Van der Putten, F. (2014) Chinese investment in the port of Piraeus, Greece: the relevance for the EU and the Netherlands . Clingendael Report. Accessed on August 19th, 2014 from: http://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/2014%20-%20Chinese%20investment%20in%20Piraeus%20-%20Clingendael%20Report.pdf.

[45] Wohlsen, M. (2014) ‘With New Overnight Delivery, Google Confirms It Wants to Be Amazon’, Wired , June, 3. Accessed on June 9, 2014 from: http://www.wired.com/2014/06/google-overnight-delivery-ends-any-doubt-that-its-trying-to-be-amazon/.

[46] Wood, A. (2013) ‘Walmart's Black Friday strikes: a new dawn for organised labour?’, Open Democracy , 1 December. Accessed on June 7, 2014 from: http://www.opendemocracy.net/alex-wood/walmarts-black-friday-strikes-new-dawn-for-organised-labour.