NEWS

Government rebuffs opposition criticism about measures

Government rebuffs opposition criticism about measures

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas on Thursday rebuffed criticism from the main leftist opposition SYRIZA of the administration’s rescue package for the Greek economy, with an emphasis on the tourism sector, as groundless and irresponsible.

Petsas was responding to claims by SYRIZA that the package unveiled by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday was tantamount to a 20 percent reduction of workers’ salaries. The criticism, he said, was “flippant, irresponsible and false.”

Petsas said the government’s aim was to minimize the repercussions of the pandemic on the economy and jobs by allowing greater flexibility.

According to SYRIZA, the package of measures constitutes a blow to workers’ rights. “It regularizes the suspension of labor contracts, effectively subsidizing unemployment,” the party said in a statement on Wednesday. 

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