The technocrats from International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank are convinced that citizens of a bailout country should not be humiliated only on the papers, they should be humiliated also in practice. The so-called Troika-guys decided that an 8-hours work per day and a salary of let’s say €1,000 gross per month is a luxury for Greeks working in the private sector. This luxury has to be throttled down… It would best if Greeks would work without salary at all, but as Uncle Stalin has died long ago and the Soviet Union has dissolved in its pieces, it seems that the only post-modern heir of labor, not money-axiom is the International Monetary Fund. Maybe because it’s Chief Domi Strauss-Kahn is a ‘Socialist’…
The IFM/EU/ECB Troika or else, the Cursed, the Bad and the Ugly, are seeking further means to minimize labor relations and achieve greater flexibility in the labor market with flexible working hours. They will impose three years temporary contracts with extension up to 3 times only.
Greeks will be forced to work 10 instead of 8 hours per day, and instead of overtime payment to be rewarded with free working days.
Full time working contracts will be pushed into part time or work in rotation contracts.
Labor inspectors unit from the Labor Ministry predict wages cuts down to 7-20%, while labor unions speak of cuts down to 50%.
The Troika forced ‘private bargain work contracts’ have replaced the collective bargains and have already ‘cracked’ the minimum wage of €740 gross per month. They have also asked for lower wages for young employees – their minimum wage is currently at 470 euro gross.
To make the complicated and long story short: Employees will hardly sign permanent work contracts, they will work more and get paid less, unemployed and youth will get jobs for a piece of bread and all laborers’ rights will be declared ‘null and nihil’. Rights, for which thousands of people lost their lives through the centuries.
Am I angry because I am struggling to reduce smoking or because the troika-guys are heavily getting on my nerves?
* The pictures are from Stalin’s Labor Prison Camps, known as Gullags
