Mayors won’t budge over redundancy scheme
As mayors across the country continue to resist complying with the government’s redundancy scheme, a report published on Monday listing staff shortages in the Greek public administration suggested that no one can be spared.
Administrative Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis, tasked with streamlining the civil service in line with demands by the country’s creditors, has come to loggerheads with mayors who refuse to deliver lists of names with employees to be put on reduced wages as their status is re-evaluated to ascertain whether they will be fired or kept on. Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris said that he is considering filing suit against the state for being asked to continue paying for staff that will not be on duty.
The government is concerned that if it fails to produce a list of 2,000 employees to be put on a fast-track redundancy scheme by the end of the year, the troika may demand as many as 15,000 random immediate dismissals.
In a related development, Germany’s consul in Thessaloniki, Wolfgang Hoelscher-Obermaier, met on Monday with Deputy Mayor Andreas Kourakis, to discuss a possible meeting between local authority worker representatives in both countries for an exchange of ideas and know-how.
Greek Health Minister Andreas Lykourentzos on Monday also met with his German counterpart, Daniel Bahr, to discuss expenditure-reducing strategies.
