The establishment of Union for Working Consumers of Greece (EEKE) is an initiative of the leading cadres of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) which aims to improve the actual standard of living and the quality of life of the consumer.

The founder members of EEKE, executives and members of GSEE and its trade unions have as a motive the ascertainment that the standard of living and the quality of life of the consumer does not depend only on their income even though it constitutes their fundamental base.

The standard of living and the quality of life of consumer depend on the price of the products and the services in connection with their quality, the quality itself, security and hygiene, the sale and their provision and dispensation through transparent transactions without the existence of abusive practices on behalf of the suppliers.

Instead, the markets operate with terms of profiteering, avarice, deception of the consumer and abusive practices on behalf of the suppliers. The consumers are incurred with prices that do not correspond to the quality which they represent.

The struggle to improve the standard of living and quality of life has to be expanded by the working environment and the places of consuming in order to achieve the composition of a mutual labor and consuming front of struggle.

The main weapon we have for the control of prices, the improvement of quality, the safeguard of hygiene and safety of products and services, the control of profiteering, avarice as well as the abusive practices of businesses, is the targeted direction of the enormous purchasing power which cumulatively constitutes our low income and salaries to those products and services which are cheap and qualitative.

The utilization of this powerful weapon can not be achieved without our active participation. Only our mutual action can protect our standard of living and our employment.

Without this organized intervention, the consequences of the current economic crisis on our employment and standard of living will be undoubtedly dramatic.

The principles which govern the activities of the Union of Working Consumers of Greece are:

Participation-Information-Choice- Intervention

These principles bring out the classic values of the world of employment:

Collegiality-Economic and Social Self-organization- Democracy

The Union of Working Consumers of Greece calls every consumer to fight together for:

• Sensitization of consumers, improvement of consumer consciousness, responsible consumer behavior
• Learning of rights and obligations of the consumer
• Learning and training of the executives, the personnel and the members of the consumer associations
• Control of the hygiene and security of products and services
• Evaluation of the connection of quality/price of the products and services
• Consumer guidance for the selection of the products they buy and the services they get through their constant information
• Targeted direction of the active demand of consumers to cheap and qualitative products and services
• Exclusion of the products of child, compulsory, illegal labor as well as businesses which are not friendly to the environment
• Protection of the consumers with low and middle income against the abusive and profiteering practices of the suppliers
• Protection of the consumers against avarice and deception on behalf of the malicious suppliers
• Support of the consumers in the differences with the suppliers in real time
• Management of complaints and submission of collective suits
• Observation of the suppliers, evaluation of the service and information of the consumers
• Training of the personnel of businesses in retailing
• Collaboration of the consumer unions with the trade unions