The government imposed a no wage increase in the private sector for 2010 by removing the dietary decisions adopted by the Organization for Mediation & Arbitration (OMED) after May 6th; the date on which they endorsed the memorandum for the country’s loan. The question still stands of contracts concluded between employers and workers without the need for mediation or arbitration of OMED. This issue is not addressed with the specific legislation of the government.
Ministers of Labour Mr. Loberdoy and Mr. Papakonstantinou tabled an amendment to the House in which it is clear that a no wage increase will be accepted in the private sector, other than those provided for, in the three year General Collective Labour Agreement, i.e. zero increase for the current year, 1.5% in 2011 and 1.7% in 2012.
“We have taken some specific commitments in the framework of the memorandum ” Deputy Minister of Labour Mr. Koytroymanis stated a few hours before the amendment.
On the contrary, GSEE characterizes the government’s decision as a ” brutal intervention” which brings questions concerning the actual intentions of the government towards the establishment of the arbitration, free negotiations and collective agreements. “Such interventions turn the economic crisis to a crisis of democracy,” notes GSEE Vice President Mr. Gavrillis.
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