Employers and employees in the food service and tourism sectors and bakeries signed new collective agreements on Tuesday..The agreements offer pay rise and several benefits.
The agreements were signed by the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE), the Federation of Food and Tourism Workers (POEET), the National Federation of Restaurant & Related Professions (POESE) and the Greek Bakers’ Federation (OAE).
The signing of the two collective bargaining agreements follows up on the recent signing of an agreement signed by national social partners with the Labor & Social Security Ministry to promote collective bargaining agreements.
Workers in the above sectors will be covered by the two agreements as of April 1, 2026 in one of the most important sectors of the Greek economy, ahead of the new tourist period.
The agreement for food services & tourism in particular aims at improving wages, labor relations, and better work conditions.
According to Labor & Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus the new, highly significant collective bargaining agreement in food services sets basic wages from 930 euros to 1,100 euros – that is, raises of up to 25% of the statutory minimum wage, with many additional benefits and bonuses that boost workers’ incomes substantially.
The benefits include a 5% rise after the third year, a marriage bonus of 10%, a supplement for tourism training up to 15%, and a supplement for seasonal work of 10%.
These increases can be applied to up to 400,000 employees in the sector, if the agreement is expanded, the minister said.
It should be recalled that businesses involved in the tourism sector have been running out of thousands of seasonal personnel in the last few years due to bad working conditions, exhausting working hours without day off and low wages.
