Pay row looms at universities
The Education Ministry appears to be on a collision course with university lecturers over their pay, it emerged yesterday. The Panhellenic Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (POSDEP) wrote to Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou to request immediate talks aimed at finding a way to incorporate the supplementary pay their members receive into their regular salaries, thereby protecting it from any possible public spending cuts. The government is unlikely to be able to meet this demand given the further cuts that it will have to make next year, but in its letter POSDEP said that «this is a key issue that could lead to direct conflict and a non-negotiable matter on which we are not prepared to concede any ground.» Meanwhile, Athens University rejected a proposal by Deputy Education Minister Yiannis Panaretos to shut down the Social Theology Department over allegations of nepotism in its hirings. The university said that it is dealing with the matter, which is also being investigated by the judicial system.