For where we are at the moment on his subject minimum wage talk to and in “Today» with them Dimitris Oikonomou and Akis Pavlopoulos the Minister of Labor, Niki Kerameos, which informed that the relevant bill enters the Plenary Session of the Parliament today, Wednesday.

“Today we have a minimum wage of 830 euros. It was at 650, it has gone to 830 and we are on our way to 950 euros. So from 650 to 950 it is an increase of 46%, perhaps the biggest increase that has been made in a member state of the European Union, despite the fact that we started from low”, as Ms. Kerameos, adding that Greece is currently in 11th place.

“A European directive is coming now, which tells us that all member states must strengthen the criteria for determining the minimum wage, put in place more objective procedures, possibly an automatic mechanism for determining it” he underlined, to add:

“We have 27 EU member states. 22 of the 27 have a statutory minimum wage, while only 5 have free collective bargaining. At least 8 countries have a mathematical formula for determining the minimum wage. We have chosen the model of at least one of them, France, a formula that has been adopted for 70 years now. What does she predict? That there will be a “threshold”, a safety net below which you will not be allowed to go. So we say “yes” to collective bargaining, but from a threshold and above. From here on, let the social partners come to negotiate something more favorable for the workers”.

At the same time, the minister reminded that for the first time the minimum wage also protects civil servants, without affecting taxation at all. “So Europe comes and tells you that it wants a minimum wage for everyone. And here we come, who until now only had a minimum wage for the private sector, and we say that it is now extended to the public sector as well”.