The proposal of the scientific committee for the integration of the European directive for adequate minimum wages was analyzed by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Niki Kerameos, in an interview she gave to SKAI radio.

As the minister explained, in the conclusion it is proposed, from 2028 onwards, that the minimum wage be derived from a mathematical formula, which will take into account two factors: inflation and the productivity of the country’s economy.

“Our goal is to protect the purchasing power and to protect the lower income strata”, noted Ms. Kerameos, clarifying that there are also proposals for the salaries of the State, in order to bring them into line with the minimum wage in the private sector.

“Our anxiety is twofold: on the one hand, we want to protect the most vulnerable and weakest social strata, to support our fellow citizens, and on the other hand, we want to shield the economy as well, to take care of the sustainability of the Greek economy in the medium and long term. Well, that’s what this math guy does. It gives a simple, predictable and transparent way in which the minimum wage will be set,” he explained.

Also, the Minister of Labor referred to the enhanced role of the social partners, for whom the committee proposes to form a single body.

As he mentioned, this is a proposal of the committee, which will be the subject of consultation.

“As soon as I received the conclusion, I immediately sent it to the social partners and asked to start consultations, to hear their proposals. From next week I will request consultation meetings with all social partners to discuss the finding in detail – and we are here to discuss changes and improvements,” she added.

Responding to a related question, Ms. Kerameos clarified that the Community Directive expressly provides that the minimum wage cannot be reduced.

As he underlined, “all this is very important, in order to limit any uncertainty of workers, to support the family planning of workers, to support investments and the overall reliability of the economic life of the country”.

Regarding the strengthening of collective negotiations, the Minister of Labor stated that the State can take care of strengthening the framework, however it is of crucial importance that “representatives of workers and employers sit at the same table” and that there be collective agreements, as is the case in tourism and focusing on other industries as well.

Ms. Kerameos was also positioned on the issue of the labor market, but also on the major issue of the repatriation of Greek workers who left abroad during the economic crisis.

As he said, the first tool is investment in training, the so-called reskilling and upskilling.

The second concerns the repatriation of Greek scientists from abroad, through initiatives organized abroad, in the coming weeks in Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, which aim to bring workers and businesses together. “We are coming now, with various initiatives, to create a ‘bridge’ between working Greeks who live and excel abroad, but want to return to Greece, they simply have not yet found the right professional opportunity, and important businesses of our country, the which are looking for executives with skills and specialties that are in demand and cannot find them,” said the Minister of Labor.

At this point, Ms. Kerameos referred to the operation of a platform, Rebrain Greece, in which more than 2,000 employees and businesses have signed up.

The first initiative will take place on the 30th of November in Amsterdam, where a pairing event between workers and businesses will take place. “On the one hand, important companies of the country will come, which are looking for human resources with special skills, and on the other hand, we attract workers who live in the Netherlands, Belgium, but also in surrounding countries and are thinking of returning to Greece,” explained the minister .

The second initiative will be held in Dusseldorf on 14 December 2024 by the Public Employment Service and will involve “Career Days” for the first time abroad.

“Our goal is to repatriate brilliant minds, who for other reasons were forced or chose to go abroad. It is their decision whether to return, but we as a government and as a state have a duty to facilitate them in this process”, he concluded.

Referring to those cases where increases in certain pensions are neutralized by the Pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution, while in some cases a decrease in pensions was also observed due to a change in scale, Ms. Kerameos emphasized that this is a distortion that is headed for correction.

“With the deputy minister, Panos Tsakloglou, we are bringing provisions to correct this distortion and that the pensioner does not suffer a reduction instead of an increase,” he said specifically. In fact, he clarified that the specific issue concerns a small number of pensioners, which does not exceed 12,000 cases.

Asked about the issue of working disability pension recipients, for whom it was a condition that, in order to receive a disability pension, they had to first stop working, the Minister of Labor replied that this is another distortion, which has been strongly criticized in the public debate and is already being corrected through a provision in the Parliament.

“There was a distortion regarding people with disabilities. If you were entitled to a disability pension, a condition for receiving the pension was to prove that you had stopped working. This put disabled people in the following dilemma: should I be supported by the State or should I work? We also say support from the State and work for our fellow citizens with disabilities, who can and wish to work”