Union pushes for new national collective agreement on employment conditions

At the end of December 2009, the Greek General Confederation of Labour notified employer organisations of workers’ demands pertaining to the new National General Collective Agreement. A one-off increase in minimum pay is the most important requirement for the trade unions. They also hope to protect jobs and improve working conditions. However, employers have highlighted the currently deteriorating economic situation of Greece.

Proposals regarding new collective agreement

In the context of negotiations for the conclusion of the new National General Collective Agreement (Εθνική Γενική Συλλογική Σύμβαση Εργασίας, EGSSE) for 2010, the Greek General Confederation of Labour (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Εργατών Ελλάδας, GSEE) has put forward a number of demands. The trade union is demanding: an increase in minimum salaries and wages along with a satisfactory pay increase for all workers; measures to minimise [dismissals](/search/node/areas OR industrialrelations OR dictionary OR definitions OR dismissals?oldIndex) and intensify the policies for new recruitment, as well as a new development model based on improving salaries; an increase in demand and consumption; and the creation of new jobs rather than pay cuts and job losses, which result in stagnation and economic downturn.

More specifically, GSEE recommends the following:

• the immediate conclusion of a new EGSSE effective from 1 January 2010 and an increase in the minimum pay stipulated in the collective agreement. During the first meeting among the social partners on 20 January 2010 towards agreeing a new EGSSE, the President of GSEE, Yiannis Panagopoulos, submitted the trade union confederation’s proposal on increasing the initial minimum salary from €739.56 to €800. Mr Panagopoulos also recommended raising this amount according to the inflation rate;

• a commitment to hold negotiations regarding a pay increase with the new basic pay being the starting point;

• measures to minimise dismissals and encourage new recruitment;

• provisions for part-time work and job rotation such as: the establishment of a minimum limit of working hours in the context of part-time employment at four hours a day and 20 hours a week; and the implementation of job rotation only if this is provided for in the business and/or sectoral collective agreement and following written agreement between the employer and salaried employee;

• proposals for working time, such as the abolition of overtime and reduction of working time, with a 35-hour working week being the objective;

• proposals for making the European framework agreement on telework, transposed into Greek law through the EGSSE 2006–2007 (GR0801029I), more specific with regard to matters such as the protection of salaried employees’ privacy and trade union rights;

• strengthening auditing mechanisms and including the cleaning industry under the category of arduous and unhealthy occupations (GR0903019I);

• curtailing undeclared work;

• the protection of workers from dismissals and prejudicial changes following the transfer of enterprises by establishing the compulsory submission of a social plan by the employer setting out alternatives and the accompanying social measures. For example, the requirement on employers to justify dismissals should be strengthened;

• measures protecting maternity and paternity, such as leave granted to fathers of five or six work days following the birth of a child or additional leave for a divorced parent;

• strengthening individual and social employment rights such as the equal treatment of older and new workers, additional leave and reduced working hours to facilitate disabled persons;

• environmental protection through vouchers of the Workers’ Housing Organisation (Οργανισμός Εργατικής Κατοικίας, OEK) for free use of public transport and common actions for the environment.

Reactions of social partners

The first exploratory meeting on the new EGSSE took place between GSEE and three employer organisations: the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (Σύνδεσμος Επιχειρήσεων και Βιομηχανιών, SEV), the General Confederation of Greek Small Businesses and Trades (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Επαγγελματιών Βιοτεχνών Εμπόρων Ελλάδας, GSEVEE) and the Hellenic Confederation of Greek Trade (Εθνική Συνομοσπονδία Ελληνικού Εμπορίου, ESEE). The employer organisations expressed reservations regarding how the proposed increase in initial salaries and wages could function without triggering pay rises that no company could afford.

After the meeting, Mr Panagopoulos stated the following:

‘… dialogue does not replace struggles…. Greece is the only European country in which 14% of poor people are also workers due to the low first salary, that is, the minimum pay. This is an issue that should be dealt with and corrected… We seek solutions for... our workers and primarily for our unemployed who are the top priority...’

The President of SEV, Dimitris Daskalopoulos explained that reality was ‘harsh’. In his view,

‘We have accepted to discuss an increase, at first, of minimum pay in euro.... We have expressed the major difficulties we foresee in the practical implementation and the legal capacity to do so.’

The discussion on the new EGSSE will continue during another scheduled meeting among the social partners.

Commentary

Developments in the negotiations on the conclusion of the new EGSSE are awaited with strong interest, given that they take place in a period in which the country’s economic situation has deteriorated to a point where the government is expected to immediately implement tough austerity measures (GR1001019I). A dilemma is thus presented between the need of employee representatives to ensure social justice and convergence of the minimum monthly salary with that in effect in other countries in the EU and the difficulty faced by employers and companies due to the harsh economic reality. In Greece, the minimum wage corresponds to about 60% of that in more prosperous countries in the EU.

Elena Kousta, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE)