Greece weighs disputed 13-hour workday reform

Greece’s parliament connected Wednesday debated a arguable betterment projected by the blimpish government, which would let 13-hour workdays under exceptional circumstances, drafting occurrence from unions and absorption parties.

Unions person staged two wide strikes against the betterment this month, the latest connected Tuesday, with thousands of workers protesting a measure “worthy of the Middle Ages,” according to the left-wing Syriza party.

The authorities insists that the 13-hour workday is optional, lone affects the backstage sector, and tin lone beryllium applied up to 37 days a year.

“We are present giving the anticipation (to an employee) to execute this other work for the aforesaid employer, without commuting, with accrued wage of 40 percent,” Labour Minister Niki Kerameus argued successful Parliament.

In a state where the system has recovered since the indebtedness situation but remains fragile, this anticipation already exists, but lone if an worker has two oregon much employers.

The betterment is seen arsenic targeted towards Greece’s services sector, particularly during the engaged summertime tourism season, enabling employers to debar hiring further staff.

But absorption parties and unions reason that workers will hazard layoffs if they garbage longer hours.

“Our health, some intelligence and physical, and the equilibrium betwixt idiosyncratic and nonrecreational beingness are goods that cannot beryllium replaced with money,” Stefanos Chatziliadis, a elder subordinate of civilian work union ADEDY, told AFP during a Tuesday protestation successful Thessaloniki.

“Making it ineligible to work from greeting till nighttime is not mean and cannot beryllium tolerated by our society. It is truly barbaric. It is inhuman,” helium said.

Voluntary

The ineligible working time successful Greece is 8 hours, with the anticipation of performing paid overtime.

The caller instrumentality is expected to beryllium passed by parliament astatine a Thursday vote, where the ruling conservatives person 156 MPs successful the 300-seat chamber.

Syriza person Sokratis Famellos said the authorities “is establishing a true Middle Ages of labour.”

However, Greece’s labour curate criticised the “misleading use of the term ’13-hour workday'” arsenic it “suggests that everyone would work 13 hours a day.”

It is simply a proviso that will lone beryllium valid “up to 37 days a year, oregon astir three days per month,” and connected a voluntary basis, she stressed.

Private and nationalist assemblage employees person twice taken to the streets to denounce the “worsening of an already profoundly problematic situation,” according to the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE).

It claims that galore employees will beryllium unable to garbage to work 13 hours, fixed the “unbalanced powerfulness dynamics betwixt leader and employee, reinforced by the precariousness prevailing successful the labour market.”

Violated

Unions judge the close to a mandatory regular remainder of 11 hours will beryllium astatine risk, mostly owed to the clip spent commuting to work.

“Working 13 hours a time means there is perfectly nary escaped clip near to pb a somewhat decent life: spending clip with friends, family,” said Dimitris Polyzoidis, 37, a technician astatine the Thessaloniki protest.

Sofia Georgiadou, 29, a store employee, denounced “a caller effort to legalise modern slavery.”

“You can’t truly refuse; they ever find ways to enforce what they want,” said Maria, a 46-year-old operation institution employee.

According to Eurostat, Greeks already work 39.8 hours a week connected mean compared to the EU mean of 35.8 hours.

The mean working clip hides important disparities, and wages stay peculiarly low.

Servers and cooks successful the tourist assemblage work extended days during highest play — sometimes without immoderate weekly rest

“Overwork is not a choice, it’s a necessity, overtime is often a means of survival,” according to fiscal regular Naftemporiki.

The existent authorities has already legalised a six-day working week, particularly during precocious request successful definite sectors, including tourism.

Source: AFP