George Mavrikos

George Mavrikos (born 1950) is the General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Athens, Greece. He is a leading member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), and former member of Greek parliament. He is largely credited for having lead the successful efforts to halt the decline of the World Federation of Trade Unions since the fall of the Soviet Union. Since his election as general secretary during the congress in Havana in 2005, the World Federation of Trade Unions has seen an increase in its number of affiliates and has successfully managed to recruit several trade union of importances in Western Europe.

Biography

Mavrikos comes from a cattle-breeding family from a small island of Greece. He worked for sixteen years in the branch of metal workers in a factory of agricultural machinery. He has participated in social struggles since he was a student. He was fired from his job for his political and trade union action on three occasions.

He has been an elected unionist since 1975. For many years, he was Chairman of the Private Employees Association of Athens. From 1993 until 1997 he served as General Secretary of the Greek General Confederation of Labor. From 1999-2008 he was at head of PAME (All Workers Militant Front). In 2000 he was elected Vice-President of the World Federation of Trade Unions in the 14th Congress of the WFTU in New Delhi, India. From 2000 to 2005, he was Coordinator of the European Regional Office of the WFTU. In the 15th WFTU Congress in Havana, Cuba, he was elected General Secretary.

In the general political elections in Greece in September 2007, he was elected Member of the Greek Parliament for the Greek Communist Party (KKE). Mavrikos served in that position until the 2012 elections. He received international attention in February 2012 when during the parliamentary debate he threw his copy of the draft of the austerity bill at the finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos.

External links

• World Federation of Trade Unions Web Site