ATHENS: Reduced working hours or even suspension, with the state paying unemployment benefit and covering workers’ social security while they are not working, are the proposals of a panel of experts on labor issues.
The conclusions of the eight-member International Committee of Experts on labor issues imply that the decision of the European Court on group layoffs will go against Greece, so the existing system will have to “either be abolished or replaced by another system providing for the approval of layoff plans in advance.”
Regarding collective labor contracts, the experts committee recommended the creation of a mechanism providing for the representation of employees in negotiations toward the signing of a collective contract, so that this negotiation process will then cover the entire sector or professional group.
On the issue of the minimum wage, the majority of the experts on the panel agreed that it should be determined by the National General Collective Labor Contract, following consultations between the social partners (the employers and the employees) and independent experts.
The committee does not suggest any particular intervention on the existing institutional framework for calling strikes, and does not call for the lifting of the lockout ban.
