Lifetime tenure not threatened
The are no plans to end lifetime tenures in the civil service, Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos told Sunday’s Kathimerini, despite earlier suggestions by the prime minister that this is one of the reforms the government wants to bring it in with its review of the constitution. Premier Costas Karamanlis said earlier this year that his government wants to change the constitution to allow workers on open-ended contracts to fill positions in the public sector. Civil servants are opposed to this because they fear it signals an end to jobs for life in their sector. «How many times do I need to repeat this?» said Pavlopoulos. «There is no question of ending lifetime positions.» He said that the government simply intends to hire more public employees in the future on open-ended contracts. «Today there are tens of thousands of employees on open-ended contracts,» said Pavlopoulos. «More of these employees will be hired in the future – without negating lifetime tenures.» The review of the constitution is set to take place after the next general election.
