NEWS

PAME unionists derail wage negotiations

Members of the Communist Party-affiliated labor union, PAME, forced on Wednesday other unionists and employers to suspend their talks on possible changes to collective labor contracts.

PAME members stormed the room at the offices of General Confederation of Greek Small Businesses and Traders (GSEVEE) where the talks had been taking place between representatives of Greece?s main private sector union, GSEE, and officials from the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and GSEVEE.

The negotiators, who had been discussing possible reductions to the minimum wage and salary cuts in the private sector, abandoned their talks. It is not clear when they will resume.

The government had put added pressure on unions and employers ahead of the meeting by suggesting that it would pass a law changing wage rules if it is not happy with any agreement reached between the two sides.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has said that Greece needs to improve its competitiveness and one of the ways to do this could be to reduce wages.

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