Cuts in the minimum wage will affect everybody

With a widespread implementation of the measure, the Troika obsession about the reduction of the minimum wage, which has been partly accepted by the government, will sweep many bonuses based on the minimum salary or daily wage, mainly the unemployment benefit, which will shrink by 20%, and the 13th and 14th salaries, the only labor rights still on the negotiation table.

Seeing the clouds of crisis thickening overhead, GSEE included bonuses and benefits in the latest National General Collective Labour Agreement that has the force of law, in order to save them.

So by the end of 2012, when the contract expires, all Greek workers have secured their two salaries with the minimum wage rate at its current level of 751 euros, or at the levels to which it might shrink.

As for the wages provided by the collective sectoral agreements, the 13th and 14th salaries are issued by a 1980 law as there is no specific mention of bonuses. However, most Greek labour experts argue that the terms of sectoral contracts are based on, and draw legislative power from EGSSE. At any rate, promoting a bill or a legislative act requiring the elimination of additional income reverses any previous setting for bonuses either provided by law or arising from the terms of a collective agreement.

Cap as in the public sector

However, a counter proposal which is being considered is to issue a bonus based on minimum wage (751 euros) or a lump sum bonus regardless of salary, as in the public sector, or set a wage limit (1,500 euros) above which there will be a drastic cut of the benefit.

Concerning the minimum wage, the government has proposed the activation or expansion of already-voted-for local employment contracts that provide for a salary reduction from 751 to 600 euros in total in areas with high unemployment.

It should be noted that the regions of the North are no longer top of the list of unemployment figures. According to the latest ELSTAT figures, the top region in unemployment is mainland Greece with 23.3%, followed by Central Macedonia with 19.7% and Attica, where unemployment rates have increased by 50%. The possibility of paying lower wages through work experience programs for young people up to 25 is being examined in terms of its being extended to 30yo unemployed persons.

Furthermore, they are paving the way for the adoption of clipped basic wages in the Special Economic Zones promoted by the Germans, which will "bypass labour, wage and tax" entanglements.

The bill, which we will probably not avoid, also provides for a 3-year revocation of the increases set by ESSE (2.6% from July 1) and the sectoral agreements, as well as any wage increases through maturation and three-year contracts.

And they are now using the phrase "withdrawal of increases" and not freezing of wages and maturation because with the freezing, wages remain unchanged, while in our case it should also provide for the possibility of reduced wages through the signing of business contracts.