The Minister of Labor and Social Security held a meeting with the representatives of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) today. Niki Kerameostogether with the General Secretary of Labor Relations, Nikos Milapidis.

The aim of the meeting was the submission of proposals by GSEE on the conclusion issued by the Scientific Committee on the integration of the European directive on adequate minimum wages and the procedure for determining it minimum wagewhich is proposed in it.

As mentioned in a related announcement, the minister listened carefully and recorded all the proposals, observations and opinions expressed by the members of the GSEE regarding the Commission’s conclusion, on which a fruitful and productive dialogue followed.

Her proposal Commission it includes the method of calculating the minimum wage, through a mathematical formula, which takes into account objective and transparent financial data.

According to the announcement, some of the advantages of the proposed mechanism for determining the minimum wage are as follows:

– predictability regarding the future course of the minimum wage and, consequently, supports the family planning of employees on the one hand and the operation of businesses on the other, while favoring investments,

– the introduction of the criteria of the Directive is done in a specific way that protects the formation of the minimum wage, thus ensuring long-term economic sustainability,

– the protection of the purchasing power of the lowest 20% of the household income distribution,

– the distribution of wages for the entire Greek society becomes more fair,

– overall, strengthening the credibility of the country’s economic policy and

– it is a model used by many EU member states, so it is tested.

It is recalled that in 22 of the 27 member states of the European Union, the minimum wage is regulated by law, just like in Greece.

In addition, the Scientific Committee proposes the establishment of a framework with the necessary conditions to facilitate collective negotiations and an action plan for its implementation is included.

Finally, it is proposed to create a Consultation Committee, which will consist mainly of representatives of the social partners, in order to formulate an opinion on the level of the legislated minimum wage and its updating, thus upgrading the role of the social partners in the process.

With the GSEE, a series of consecutive meetings with all the national social partners is launched, in order to record their positions on the conclusion.

Ms. Kerameos emphasized that the dialogue is now starting, pointing out that the cycle of dialogue with all national social partners precedes the public consultation, in which the bill for the integration of the European directive will be submitted.

The Minister of Labor stated: “With the meeting with the GSEE, we are launching a new round of consultations with all social partners, in order to record their views and proposals on the conclusion issued by the Scientific Committee. The Commission’s proposal foresees, among other things, the creation of a mechanism, which will be activated from 2028 onwards, for the formation of the minimum wage through objective and transparent financial data, as is the case in other European countries, for example in France. At the same time, an action plan is proposed to increase the coverage rate of Collective Labor Agreements in our country, which is a priority for our government. Our goal is to ensure better working conditions and strengthen the protection of workers’ rights. The dialogue with the social partners will continue, in order to listen to all the opinions: both of the employees and of the employers, so that we can reach the best possible result for the overall benefit of employment”.

Next is the meeting with the General Confederation of Professional Craft Merchants of Greece (GSEVEE), which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16, 2024.

The head of the Prime Minister’s Economic Office, Alexis Patelis, and the president of the Council of Economic Experts, Michalis Argyrou, also participated in the meeting.

The GSEE was represented by the president of the Confederation, Ioannis Panagopoulos, the vice-president, Dimitris Tahmatzidis, the General Secretary, Nikolaos Fotopoulos, the head of the Legal Service, Theodoros Deligiannakis, the legal advisor, Sofia Kazakou, the Organizational Secretary, Evangelos Moutafis, the Financial Secretary , George Georgakopoulos, the member of the Executive Committee, Yiannis Tasoulas, the General Director of the GSEE Labor Institute, Christos Goulas and the Scientific Director of the Institute, George Argeitis.