Despite growth and pay rises, Greek workers are among the poorest in Europe

Athens, Greece – When the blimpish New Democracy enactment came to powerfulness successful Greece successful 2019, it promised a work-driven system that would turn by 4 percent a twelvemonth and elevate surviving standards aft a decennary of austerity.

In an entreaty to the productive, non-state economy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became premier minister, asking Greeks to “work unneurotic to physique a caller compact of spot based connected meritocracy, industriousness, security, justice, opportunities for everyone”.

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Five years later, Greeks had the second-lowest yearly salaries successful the European Union aft Bulgaria, according to Eurostat, the EU statistical agency.

Every different Eastern European state that had go a free-market ideology successful 1991 and an EU subordinate successful 2004, astir a quarter-century aft Greece, has leapfrogged up of it.

From 2019 to 2024, “Bulgaria roseate 11 points whereas we roseate 3 points,” said Yiorgos Christopoulos, spokesperson for the General Confederation of Workers successful Greece (GSEE), the country’s backstage assemblage umbrella union. “If this goes on, Bulgaria, too, volition overtake america successful the adjacent 2 to 3 years,” helium told Al Jazeera.

GSEE’s latest study recovered that during these 5 years, Greek surviving standards roseate from 65.5 percent of the EU mean to conscionable 68.5 percent, contempt the information that the system has grown astatine astir doubly the EU complaint since the COVID-19 pandemic successful 2020.

What went wrong?

When New Democracy was re-elected successful 2023, it promised to reconstruct surviving standards and made bully connected those promises.

Minimum wage was precocious restored to 920 euros ($1,080) a month, from the 580 euros ($680) to which it had been slashed amid the post-2009 planetary fiscal crisis. By adjacent year, it is to emergence to 950 euros ($1,114).

Average monthly wages, too, person risen to 1,516 euros ($1,777), fulfilling New Democracy’s committedness a twelvemonth early.

New Democracy besides came done connected promises of taxation cuts. This year, each income taxation brackets were slashed by 2 points, and by a further 2 points for each babelike child.

Workers nether 25 wage nary taxation until they gain much than 20,000 euros ($23,450).

Mitsotakis took a infinitesimal to congratulate his authorities connected its show since 2019 astatine past September’s Thessaloniki International Fair, wherever helium announced these measures.

“It’s not coincidence that the state of austerity present has 1 of the highest maturation rates successful Europe, with unemployment astatine 8 percent, down from 18 percent, 500,000 caller jobs, nationalist indebtedness 30 points lower, portion salaries summation and taxes fall.”

But successful existent terms, Greek incomes person fallen by a 3rd successful the past 15 years, EU statistic show.

“There’s a greater summation successful ostentation than successful salaries, truthful we person a autumn successful purchasing power,” explained Efi Achtsioglou, who was labour curate nether the left-wing Syriza authorities successful 2016-19. “In our country, ostentation is overmuch higher than the EU average, and our salaries are little than the EU mean successful existent terms,” she told Al Jazeera.

‘Few workers covered by corporate bargaining’

Normally, labour unions and employers’ unions would beryllium with the authorities each twelvemonth to hold connected sectoral wage rises astir successful enactment with inflation. This has not happened since New Democracy came to power.

“I deliberation what has led to this concern is that you person precise fewer workers present covered by corporate wage bargaining agreements – beneath 20 percent, erstwhile EU directives accidental it has to beryllium supra 80 percent,” said Achtsioglou.

“We had much corporate wage agreements successful 2018, truthful aft the crisis, alternatively of getting better, things got worse,” she said, referring to the post-2009 planetary fiscal crisis, which saw Greece slash its minimum wage successful February 2012.

Since Greece is inactive a small-enterprise system – astir 90 percent of employment comes from companies with 10 oregon less employees – it is particularly important to person corporate agreements, Achtsioglou pointed out.

Work deaths soar

Greece besides has a overmuch worse way grounds connected idiosyncratic information than the authorities lets on, says GSEE.

According to authoritative statistic submitted by the labour ministry, Greece had 51 work-related deaths successful 2023. The Federation of Workers’ Unions successful Technical Enterprises (OSETEE), a GSEE offshoot, tallied the fig astatine 179.

Last twelvemonth acceptable a grounds astatine 201, and OSETEE has recorded 47 successful the archetypal 4 months of this year.

“Large categories of workers aren’t included [in authorities figures], specified arsenic maritime professions, information bodies, quarries, the equipped forces … freelance workers, who are 20 percent of the workforce, and anyone uninsured by societal security,” said Andreas Stoimenidis, caput of OSETEE.

Government statistic besides bash not number infirmary oregon postulation deaths arsenic being related to work, helium said.

“Last summer, a idiosyncratic was killed aft mounting up a performance and was driving to acceptable up another. He had a car clang due to the fact that helium was moving unbelievable hours,” said Achtsioglou. “The ministry did not grounds that arsenic a enactment mishap but arsenic a elemental postulation accident.”

Last year, New Democracy passed authorities allowing an worker to enactment up to 13 hours a time for a azygous leader arsenic portion of its dependable deregulation of labour. That, said Achtsioglou, was a look for much deaths.

“Statistics amusement that accidents hap towards the extremity of enactment shifts,” she said.

The International Labour Organization agreed that Greece was under-reporting deaths successful its 2025 tally.

There whitethorn besides beryllium an unconsciously racist constituent to immoderate of these deaths, accidental migration experts.

A 4th of past year’s tally took spot successful construction, different 4th successful agriculture, and different 15 successful tourism – making them the first, 2nd and 4th astir lethal professions.

All 3 industries employment a precocious proportionality of migrant labour, and Greece has said it is actively seeking to enlistee different 200,000 overseas workers successful them.

“One could reasonably wonderment whether information rules are being followed, and whether determination is an unconscious bias towards migrant workers erstwhile it comes to safety,” said Lefteris Papagiannakis, caput of the Greek Council for Refugees, a ineligible assistance group. “There is present a assemblage of statistic astatine our disposal truthful it’s not thing we can’t decently investigate,” helium told Al Jazeera.