GSEE at Thessaloniki Fair 2026: press conference and rally

The General Confederation of Labor of Greece (GSEE) announced its participation in this year’s Thessaloniki International Fair, during which it has scheduled two events. According to an announcement by the confederation itself, the first event is a press conference on Friday, September 4, 2026, during which, as GSEE states, it will present its positions ahead of the exhibition. The second event is participation in a rally on Saturday, September 5, 2026, one day after the press conference and one day after the opening of the Fair. GSEE, according to its own announcement, chooses to publicly present its positions in Thessaloniki on these days, in view of the large publicity the city attracts during the exhibition.

GSEE’s rally is scheduled for 18:00 on Saturday, September 5, with the gathering point at the Eleftherios Venizelos monument in Thessaloniki. The confederation traditionally chooses Thessaloniki Fair days for public interventions, as the exhibition attracts increased journalistic and political interest in the city, giving union demands greater visibility compared to other periods of the year. The choice of this particular gathering point, in the center of Thessaloniki, is part of the established practice of union mobilizations in the city during the fair days.

According to GSEE, its demands concern decent wages, the restoration of collective bargaining agreements, and the safeguarding of labor rights. The confederation presents these demands as steady priorities, which, as it states, are repeatedly raised in every public intervention of its in recent years. GSEE’s announcement does not include further details on expected participation in the rally or on possible government responses to these demands, nor does it mention participation by other union bodies in the two events on Friday and Saturday.

GSEE’s mobilization takes place during the same days as the Thessaloniki Fair, a period during which special traffic regulations apply in Thessaloniki due to increased traffic in the city. The confederation’s demands for wages and labor rights are expressed in parallel with public discussion on the cost of living, within which the National Initiative for Price Reduction announced at government level also moves. GSEE does not, according to its own announcement, connect the two events this year in Thessaloniki with a specific government initiative, but presents them as part of its ongoing action around labor issues. The confederation states that it will continue to present the same demands in every subsequent public intervention, both in Thessaloniki and in other cities of the country.