Private sector labor conditions have declined

Nine in 10 employees in Greece’s private sector faced worsening labor conditions in the years of the debt crisis, according to a survey carried out for the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) on the occasion of the centenary of its founding. Ninety percent of respondents in the poll conducted by the ALCO polling firm said that they had suffered from reduced salaries, job insecurity and blows to their social insurance protection and working conditions in the past eight years, national broadcaster ERT reported this week. Some 37 percent of private sector employees said that they had faced delays in the payment of wages in at least one month in recent years. Although Greece exited the bailout programs in August, challenges remain. The unemployment rate stands at 19 percent and the labor market is facing many difficulties. GSEE and other labor unions have called for the re-establishment of collective labor agreements to safeguard workers’ rights as well as the increase of the minimum wage in the private sector. In 2012, in the framework of the austerity measures introduced to address the Greek debt crisis, the minimum wage decreased from 715 euros per month to 586 euros for employees aged over 25 years and to 511 euros for people aged up to 25. Currently, according to Labor Ministry data, some 690,000 employees in the private sector earn monthly wages up to 700 euros. The survey was conducted on a sample of 1,500 people in May 2018.