Tourists may have flocked in millions to Greece this year but so have the labor middle ages of the sector. The results of the controls conducted by the Labor controllers, insurance funds and employee’s unions are shocking. The uninsured work seems to have spread like a wild fire among hoteliers, restaurant and bar owners.
Leading in the list of uninsured work are two of the most popular destinations: the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, followed by Euboia, Achaia, Epirus and Thessaloniki.
The most striking examples are:
– in Achaia, the owner of a seaside facility was caught to have 45 employees without social security and insurance. Also in Achaia, a hotelier was offering his employees just food and accommodation but no salary.
– in Euboia (western Greece), many hotels remain closed but employers neither pay nor fire the employees with the effect that the latter remain ‘hostages’ of the companies in order not to abolish rights for outstanding salaries.
– in one case, some of the uninsured hotel personnel jumped into the sea in order to escape from the labor control units.
– in several islands of the Cyclades island group, employees are accommodated in basements, work without insurance, firing is often as well as the frequent change of personnel.
– big hotel units in Preveza and Ioannina owe personnel salaries of more than 12 months.
– in Thessaloniki, hoteliers exit the sector’s union in order to be freed form the obligation to pay personnel according to the sector’s standards. The result is that independently of working experience, personnel is being paid as ‘unskilled laborer” with the minimum wage of 580 euro gross. (protothema, newsit )
I know that quite some KTG-readers are in the touristic sector, and I would appreciate their experience.
PS I have the suspicion that this year’s miracle in tourism will not benefit all….
