Τhe longtime head of Greece’s largest trade umbrella group, GSEE, along with another five individuals, is now officially under investigation by a financial crimes prosecutor for alleged mismanagement of EU and national funds earmarked for vocational training programs.

Yannis Panagopoulos has headed up the trade union, which represents all types of private sector wage-earners in the country, for some 20 years and is a “fixture” in Greece’s trade union landscape.

The announcement that he is now under investigation comes days after the president of the country’s money laundering “watchdog”, former supreme court deputy prosecutor Charalampos Vourliotis, ordered a freezing of Panagopoulos’ assets.

The development has created heightened attention in the country, given the institutional status of the trade union umbrella group, officially known as the General Confederation of Greek Workers.

Reaction by PASKE

One such “ripple effect” was the threat by PASKE, the grouping within GSEE that is affiliated with the main opposition PASOK party. In its “heyday”, the socialist/social democrat PASOK had a dominant sway over trade unions in the country.

However, PASOK last week suspended Panagopoulos’ membership from the party, drawing a sharp condemnation by PASKE.

A letter sent to PASOK president Nikos Androulakis charged that the party is failing to back Panagopoulos.

The PASKE letter expressed “anger” and “astonishment” in its letter to the PASOK president regarding the Panagopoulos case.

At the same time, PASKE referred to “an unprecedented lynching, a character assassination and public cannibalism that targets not only the individual but also the unions, in order to favor very specific business interests.”

SYRIZA president Socrates Famelos

Call for his resignation

In a diametrically different view, leftist SYRIZA party leader Socrates Famelos called for Panagopoulos, and all the board members, to resign from the GSEE board.