With different approaches appeared the competent extra-parliamentary bodies, who were invited to the Social Affairs Committee of the Parliament, to express their views on the bill, of the Ministry of Labour, concerning the “integration of a European directive for adequate minimum wages”.

For her part, the Minister of Labour, Niki Kerameos, commenting on the remarks and reservations that were expressed, argued that what the government is establishing is a safety net of 950 euros minimum wage and from then on social agencies can strive for more.

In particular:

The president of ELSTAT, Thanasis Thanopoulos, described the participation of the Hellenic Statistical Service in the preceding scientific dialogue as “imperative, crucial and correct”.

As he said, the Statistical Service “has the necessary scientific experience regarding the composition of the indicators that will be taken into account for the increase of the minimum wage of employees, which are objective and reliable”.

“For a simple algorithm system that has been successfully applied for more than 50 years in France,” said Michael Argyrou, president of the Council of Economic Experts, emphasizing that “it ensures the purchasing power of workers, as the increase in minimum wages is linked to critical indicators of economy, such as accuracy and increased productivity’.

EU vice-president Sofia Kazakou spoke against the bill, arguing that it “neither fulfills the objective of the EU directive nor ensures the minimum wage for workers, while important social indicators are ignored to determine the increase in the minimum wage.”

At the same time, he requested the restoration of the responsibility of raising wages to the social partners by concluding collective labor agreements.

He also argued that the bill adopts a decorative role for the social partners and removes their decisive contribution.

GESEBE’s scientific advisor, Georgios Thanopoulos, stated that “the institutional partners should have actually participated in the consultation, which was not done”, and was drafted with the view of “restoring the competence of the social partners to determine the minimum wage”.

He also argued that civil servants are not actually included in the minimum wage increase, which will depend on the country’s fiscal situation.

The Vice-President of ADEDY, Dimitris Bratis, called it positive that “the bill also includes the participation of civil servants for sufficient increases in the minimum wage”, however, as he said, this is impossible to achieve because there is no 13th and 14th salary that employees have in the private sector.

He also emphasized that in the bill there is no provision for the public sector in the matter of collective negotiations, while he expressed his opposition to the minister unilaterally deciding on minimum wages instead of the social partners.

Positive about the bill, said Katerina Daskalaki, director of the Labor Relations sector of the BSE, stressing that it serves the national goal of strong growth, healthy competition and securing wages.

He also spoke about “an automatic, clear and defined adjustment mechanism, based on specific price and purchasing power indicators” and added that, “we are in the right direction as far as the mathematical formula is concerned, but the issue of productivity is problematic.”

Giorgos Hotzoglou, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Food and Tourism Workers, stated his opposition “to the government setting, with its own criteria, the amount of the workers’ minimum wage”.

At the same time, he accused the government of abolishing public consultation and collective labor agreements, while leaving open the possibility of reducing wages for fiscal reasons.

Giorgos Ambrazis, advisor to the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, emphasized the need for clarifications on the coefficient of indicators taken into account for wages, noting that they are not representative of employees while it is necessary to take into account the evolution of their real purchasing power.

Ioannis Tassioulas, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Builders, requested the “withdrawal of the bill that establishes a permanent cutter with the aim of keeping the workers’ salary at minimum levels”.

“The ones you are protecting are not the workers but the employers, by enacting a permanent cutter that will intervene, invoking the national budget, to protect the powerful by keeping the minimum wage low,” he said.

Patrina Paparigopoulou, president of the Scientific Committee for the Integration of the Community Directive, spoke in favor of the bill, stressing among other things that: “social partners are facilitated to enter into collective labor agreements, civil servants are also included and not only private sector workers in the increase of the minimum wage, the reduction of wages is prohibited while the criteria and the purchasing power of the workers are controlled by the EU”.

He also added that the participation of the social partners is being upgraded while for the first time a body is being created that will consult and be able to enact wage increases.

Stavroula Papadimitriou, representative of the Labor Inspection Body, emphasized the need for legal support for working labor inspectors, from misguided malicious attacks they receive from illegal employers, as well as its adequate staffing.

The vice-president of the Association of Greek Industries, Ioannis Stavrou, spoke of “a bill that is clearly in the right direction and has many benefits for employees”.

As he said, “there will be no political criteria for wage increases and this lends transparency and objectivity to the mathematical formula that France has successfully used for more than 50 years.”

He emphasized, however, that the concept of productivity should be clarified, because it is not easy to understand the real increase in wages.

The representative of the Panhellenic Federation of Spectators and Auditoriums, Anastasios Katopodis, emphasized the need to reinstate the general collective labor agreements for all employees, noting that the bill lacks mandatory regulations for employers.

At the same time, he emphasized the art and culture sector, stressing that “there is no institutional support for workers, who are experiencing massive unemployment, underemployment, while their labor and insurance rights are systematically and brutally violated.”

“In the integration of the Community directive there could be regulations for a number of issues that we are dealing with, but unfortunately we do not see them”, he noted

The vice-president of the Trade and Business Confederation, Antonis Megoulis, underlined that the Confederation’s permanent position is to restore the minimum wage, to the responsibility of the social partners. At the same time, he expressed objections to the calculation of the price index, noting that it is unclear whether the average economy and real economic data are taken into account.

Niki Kerameos: We are introducing a safety net of 950 euros for employees

After listening to the social actors, the Minister of Labour, Niki Kerameos, characterized the consultation that took place with them as “fruitful, detailed, substantial”, adding that “their proposals have already been incorporated.

He also emphasized that, “the mathematical formula is without deviations and binding for the government and the regulation includes all the criteria of the directive on the purchasing power of workers and the level of wages”.

As he said, “the role of the social partners is being upgraded, it will be very extensive and after the passing of the bill, an official negotiator will be established in which they will participate as well as the parliamentary parties”.

He rejected objections regarding the establishment of a permanent salary cut, arguing that only increases are foreseen and their reduction is expressly prohibited.

“Employees want to know exactly what they will be paid. And that’s what we do so they have security. We say that we must establish and there should be a safety net of 950 euros and from then on I hope the social partners will establish something more”, concluded Ms. Kerameos.