Minister, unions discuss wages, labor contracts
Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis on Thursday met with unionists representing workers and officials from employers’ associations in a bid to reach a compromise on the thorny issue of salary levels and labor contracts.
Vroutsis has ruled out any further reduction to the minimum wage but labor unions have pressed for a revocation of a recent law that reduced the mininum wage by 22 percent and allowed employers’ more flexibility to negotiate salaries with their staff.
The issues are expected to be raised in talks with officials representing the country’s international creditors — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, or the troika — next week.
The General Confederation of Greek Labor, known by the acronym of its Greek title GSEE, has asked the government to commit to respecting labor contracts between employers and staff irrespective of the pressure expected to be exerted by troika officials.
