LARCO: 1,080 employees are laid off – The way is open for competitions

By Harry Floudopoulos

The dismissal of 1080 employees by the end of February, in order to pave the way for the completion of the two separate tenders for the sale of LARCO was announced by the government yesterday in a teleconference attended by the co-ministers of Finance Ch. Staikouras, Environment and Energy K. Skrekas K. Hatzidakis. The government’s goal, as it was announced to the workers’ representatives, is for the tenders to take place by the end of February – mid-March.

The schedule that was announced to the employees foresees that in the next few days the draft concession contract will be posted in order to proceed with the two tenders, concerning the mines of Evia, Fthiotida and Kastoria (special manager) and the factory of Larymna together with the mines of Loutsiou (HRDH).

In the meantime, the Special Administrator is expected to proceed with the dismissal of all employees, who will receive their legal compensation, as according to the ruling of the European Court of Justice condemning Greece, the termination of LARCO is requested. However, the law on special management provides for the delivery of the company’s factory in working order. This practically means that a number of employees will be re-hired by the special manager with fixed-term contracts in order to fulfill the provision of the law. Then when the new investor takes over, he in turn will hire as many employees as deemed necessary while the rest will be included in “bridge” work programs. in community service programs until they reach retirement age.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that according to the workers’ representatives, the government was asked to evacuate the settlements that belong to the industry and where about 300 families live. For their part, the trade union representatives of the workers in LARCO state that they will not allow dismissals and announce mobilizations in advance.