Employees of public utilities earn on average at least 60 percent more than private sector workers, said Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis as he defended the government’s bid to limit wage demands at state sector firms and utilities.

The figures submitted by Alogoskoufis during an ongoing parliamentary debate indicated that the average annual wage at public enterprises, also known as DEKO, was 43,280 euros last year. This compares to just 23,405 euros in the private sector.

The minister used these numbers to back the government’s decision to amend the law so that collective wage bargaining at DEKO would not apply to new hirings.

“If solutions require us to clash with certain interests or groups, we are determined to do so,” he told MPs.

Alogoskoufis said that many DEKO pay out more in wages each year than they earn. He said, for instance, that the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) had a turnover of 100 million euros in 2007 but paid out 400 million euros in salaries. ETHEL, the company that runs the blue buses in Athens, made 195 million euros but paid more than 280 million to its employees.

“The reality of maintaining these DEKO with state subsidies is totally against the interest of society at large,” said the minister.

His argument was dismissed by PASOK MP Evangelos Venizelos, who said that DEKO employees had simply built up their salaries because they had good union representation.

“The aim should be for the workers in the private sector to obtain these salaries, not for the benefits of DEKO employees to be withdrawn,” he said.