COSCO and the privatisation of Piraeus port: A tale of three piers

This study examines one of the highest-profile Chinese investment projects in Europe. Using data collected over the period 2019–2021, we address important questions about the impact on employment and workplace regimes of the state-run Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) and China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO)-run Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) sides of Piraeus port in Greece. Our key findings indicate that while COSCO’s investment has created much-needed local employment, the adoption of widespread subcontracting of the labour force has segmented workers into very different workplace regimes depending on the side of the port at which they work. We found that the new workplace regime introduced by PCT has evolved over time since the inception of operations but retains the key elements of a labour control strategy detrimental to workers’ agency. We examine these findings in light of the facilitative and enabling role that the national labour market reforms played in paving the way for COSCO’s adoption and deployment of such working practices and contextualise them within a multi-scalar governance architecture that connects transnational, national, sectoral, and firm-specific elements of the prevailing labour conditions.