The managements of Greek state-run enterprises seem to be very forgetful. So forgetful, that they “forgot” to implement government decisions concerning wages cuts for thousands of employees at state-run enterprises (DEKO) and other state bodies and organizations. Even worst: the government forgot to control if laws and decisions are been implemented.
Apparently the Bailout Agreement is implemented only to certain parts of the Greek society: mostly private sector employees and self-employed. The rest of the society experiences a …preferential treatment. They are exempted from the wages cuts. Who are these people? The army of party voters that redeemed votes against a work place at the state-run enterprises, mostly utilities companies but also TRAINOSE, Public transport etc.
Thus reminding us that in this debt-ridden state, the gap of the two-classes employees is getting bigger .And that the Memorandum of Understanding is not for all.
Sunday newspaper Real News revealed that according to Greek Finance Ministry, 60 percent of the utilities companies and of subsidized state agencies and organisations not only they did not implement the relevant decisions, they also did implement any wages cuts at all!
And this two years after the voting of four relevant bills at the Parliament and seven months after the relevant bill of detailed wages cuts from Papademos’ government.
The managements forgot not only to proceed to their own wages cuts but also to those of the employees.
The wages cuts foresee highest salary for employees 1,700 euro/month and 5,000 euro/month for directors.
It looks as if the government also ‘forgot’ to check and control if its decisions have been implemented.
Big Party with Public Money
“1,700 employees of a big DEKO receive a ‘pc allowance’ of 200-300 euro per month, while there are only 600 pcs (Real News)
As the Troika is due to arrive on July 24/2012, last Wednesday deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Staikouras ordered ministries to provide detailed information about the state-enterprises employees’ wages.
And then the shock!
It is worth mentioning that the government sent a relevant circular on November 18/2011 to all ministries, state-enterprises and subsidised bodies. The circular forsaw to stop subsidiaries in case a state body, DEKO or organization would not comply.
Nevertheless and without previous control, Papademos government increased the subsidiary to DEKO and other state bodies from 610 million euro in 2011 to 760 million euro in 2012.
Real News publisher Nikos Chatzinikolaou demands in his op-ed “the immediate intervention of two to three brave prosecutors”.
Horizontal cuts? Yes, but no for all…
At the same time Greece’s private sector is keep paying for the economic crisis and the recession, while the taxpayers keep paying for the un-decreased wages of the country’s “nomenclature” for employees: those working for the tight and broader public sector.
According to data published on July 19/2012 by the “Labour Inspectors’ Body” (SEPE):
In the first six months of 2012, wages for 9.3% of private sector employees decreased at 23.7%.
44,122 full-time labour contracts were commuted into “flexible” labour contracts. An increase of 45.3% when compared to the first half-year of 2011.
Not to forget the thousands of employees in the private sector whose employers ‘forget’ to give the whole monthly salary due to shortage of cash.
PS Hopefully the cuts would be done immediately and with retrospective effect!
Clever German saying: “Trust is good, control is even better” 🙂
news sources: Real News story via star.gr, newsit.gr
Has the Troïka taken over KTG. I never thought I would see you quoting German sayings, and settin the private sector against the public sector. Stay united against the real enemy. You’re all in it together!!!
of course, we’re all together, except some who are more together than the others..
BTW: KTG lived several years in Germany 🙂
The public infrastructure has never functioned correctly and this has allowed things like this, and corruption to continue unaudited. This is why there are stipulations in the MoU for implementations of better mechanisms of auditing.
TG, the troika and the Germans are not the enemy here. It’s the people that continue to exploit the inadequacies of the public infrastructure.
Stories like this only make
foreigners more wary to support more money being given to Greece
and honest Greek taxpayers not to want to send tax declaration.
That is ok the American tax payer will pay for this if Obummer has his way!
Maybe they should pay as otherwise America go down sinkhole too. US debt cause was by Bush because Clinton had surplus I read in Joberg press many years ago
This confirms everything I kept hearing over the last year and I hoped it were just lies. “German” or other kinds… But a big part of the Greek society is still living the good live. Especially that part that is screaming the most that they are hurt… And they are obviously just hurting us.
Let’s see how SYRIZA will condemn these thiefs… 🙄
“Clever German saying: “Trust is good, control is even better””
Thx for the roses, but it actually was V.I. Lenin who came up with this. And afaik he was a Russian. Ok, maybe living in Germany for some time influenced him…
🙂
whatever…
It’s interesting that the rage is directed against employees, some of which have very strong qualifications and actually do the work and make 20-40K/year and got their position via an open competition and the people at the top(such as the CEOs )with disatrous results(for which of course labor is to blame-ever seen lions for lambs?) who make 400K-4M/year and got there by direct appointment from the great minister are exempt from any cuts. It’s also interesting that this outright fraud, such as the state intervening in PRIVATE contracts is applauded by the neoliberals and the blind haters. Imagine a greek buying Bayern Munchen. Then he discovers he does not like the player contracts(which were known beforehand) and asks the german government to make a law to change the players contracts. What do you think the german government would say? And this is supposed to be legal or even desirable in Greece? If you lower wages in the private sector you lose direct and indirect taxes, as well as pension funds and those who can, leave the country. And they think that’s the way to bay back the debt?