In what is seen as a cautious roll back of the widely unpopular labour market reforms implemented as part of the bailout program, Greece’s government legislated the mandatory application of collective bargaining agreements in four industries.
According to the decision, signed by Minister of labour and social security Efi Achtsioglou on Monday, collective bargaining agreements will be obligatory in banking, travel agencies, maritime shipping and all businesses that are members of the International Maritime Union, an organization that represents liner shipping agencies and cruise ships agents operating at the port of Piraeus.
The government presented this decision as evidence of its willingess to live up to its plegde to start rolling back the austerity measures that curtailed workers’ rights, during the implementation of the bailout program.
This move is not without risk for the Tsipras government, as it is expected not to go down well with Greece’s lenders, who insisted on the need for a liberalisation of the country’s labour market. The specific measure may have been responsible for a decrease in unemployment rates, however it also brought down wages.
According to the Labour ministry data, since the beginning of the 2018, the vast majority of employer-employees agreements have come at the company level. Specifically, 155 company-wide agreements have been signed in 2018 so far, with only 15 sector-wide agreements, and eight at the regional level.