This Thursday, Greece approved a controversial reform of labor law proposed by the conservative government, with an absolute majority in the Parliamentwhich allows the private sector workers work up to 13 hours a dayfor a maximum of 37 days per year.
The law was made possible with strong opposition from unions and the opposition, who accuse the Executive of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of taking “the country back to the 19th century” in terms of labor rights.
In Parliament, the entire opposition voted against, while the Syrizaa radical left coalition, withdrew from the vote to “not legalize with their vote” what they classified as as a “monstrous law”.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece
LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/Getty Images
The Government, from the conservative New Democracy party, guarantees that the adherence to this measure is voluntarywith it being “explicitly prohibited for the employer to force, dismiss or discriminate in any way” against workers who refuse to work these overtime hours.
According to the Executive, the measure allows a 40% bonus for overtime and was designed to help workers earn more without having to get a second job. “We are giving employees the possibility of working overtime for the same employer, without commuting and with a 40% salary increase”, defended the Minister of Labor, Niki Kerameus, classifying this reform as “progressive”.
Four-day week and vacation changes
In addition to working hours of up to 13 hours a day, the law approved this Thursday also introduces the option of four-day week, digital job cards, rapid recruitment through an app and the possibility of dividing annual leave into smaller periods.
For the opposition, the new law is “worthy of the Middle Ages” and will effectively abolish the eight-hour working day, paving the way for exploration.
This Tuesday, unions called for a general strike against the measure, which paralyzed public transport and several services, and thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki.
According to Eurostat, Greeks already work an average of almost 40 hours a week, compared to the European average of 36 hours, earning some of the lowest wages in the EU.