With a basic message “accuracy in God, wages in tartars. We want real increases, we want our Collective Bargaining Agreements back and we want them now”, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) carries it out Wednesday, April 17, 2024, twenty-four hour general strikefocusing on demands for wage increases, immediate action to tackle punctuality, the crackdown on profiteering, and the reinstatement of Collective Bargaining Agreements.

As stated by the president of GSEE, Yiannis Panagopoulos, in a press conference, in view of the strike, throughout the previous period, levels of the trade unions, led by officials of the Confederation, implemented targeted interventions in 30 prefectures of the country, with employee briefings and visits to workplaces , while, at the same time, they prepared television and radio spots to communicate the demands of the wage labor world.

According to Mr. Panagopoulos, the major theme, which the strike action highlights, is the rise of precision. In fact, the president of GSEE spoke of “profits inflation”, pointing out that Greece is first in the participation of business profits in the national income, but penultimate in the wages of private sector workers.

As he pointed out, wages fell in 2022 and 2023, while profits soared. Indicatively, he noted that the profit margin in the German industry is around 8%, while the profit margin in the Greek industry is 19.2%.

At the same time, Mr. Panagopoulos commented that the increase in the minimum wage, announced by the government, is not at the poverty line, it is poverty itself. At this point, the president of the GSEE reiterated the well-documented proposal of the Confederation to increase it to 908 euros, i.e. 60% of the median wage, which is the poverty line, plus productivity growth and estimated inflation.

For his part, the General Secretary of the GSEE, Nikos Fotopoulos, emphasized that the increase in the minimum wage is a “crumb” and constitutes a mockery and disrespect towards the world of work, which daily fights hard in order to survive.

As he said, this is an increase of 50 euros gross and 39 euros net.

Mr. Fotopoulos then underlined that the government refuses to see the harsh reality and added that, in the last 13 years, the minimum wage has only increased by 89 euros gross and 62 euros net, at the same time that all products have increased, while the average salary decreased by 421 euros compared to 2009.

The claims

As announced, the main demands are as follows:

– Reduction of VAT for one year on basic food items and devaluation of basic household necessities.

– Indexation of tax brackets, so that nominal increases in wages and incomes are not dissipated by the increase in taxes.

– Indexation of all social allowances and benefits.

– Expanding the beneficiaries of the rent subsidy, based on income and social criteria, to address the high cost of housing especially for young couples and students. Creation of a public reserve of social housing.

– Raising wages, beyond the minimum wage, to protect the purchasing power of low and middle income households. According to the GSEE, “wages are not the cause of the current inflationary upsurge. Workers and vulnerable social groups are the victims of this inflationary earnings crisis.”

– Immediate reinstatement of the National General Collective Labor Agreement and the determination of the minimum wage by employees and employers, as well as restoration of all priorities of collective labor law (extension of Collective Agreements, confluence, follow-up, etc.).

– Strict institutional control and transparency of how costs, prices and profit margins are set throughout the supply chain, with the substantial reinforcement of the Competition Commission.

– Cracking down on speculation in all businesses in the main sectors of production and trading of basic food goods and extraordinary taxation on the profits of supermarket chains and energy, transport and banking businesses.

It is noted that the gathering is planned in Klathmonos Square at 11:00.

G.B.