One in three companies in Greece have expressed their intention to use the
new tool of business contracts with lower wages, according to the “People for Business” research firm, in a research held during the period from January 10th to February 10th, 2011, with a sample of 145 companies.According to the survey results:
- 40.9% of companies consider operational agreements implementation as necessary in order to maintain competitiveness.
- 45.4% of businesses consider that the establishment of operational contracts is a step towards the right direction.
- 45.45% of HR professionals believe that wage reductions will lead to a conflict between management and workers. However, 59% of businesses are opposed to contractual agreements while 13% is undecided.
“In small businesses, where relations are friendly or familial, the rate is lower. There is less flexibility in the potential for agreement application, due to the sensitive and easily disturbed interpersonal relationships, thus skepticism abounds”, stated Ms. Rebecca Pitsika, general director of People for Business.
At the same time, the Labor Ministry, pressured by the Troika, is taking steps to help businesses sign business contracts with lower wages. According to Troika’s ultimatum, if the enforcement of said agreements is not done by June, the law will be amended. Already, government officials have poured to rural regions, advertising business agreements, while Court procedures on that which concerns the approval process will also be sped up.
Meanwhile, the ministry is taking steps in order to make it more difficult to approve the process of sectoral agreements. A report will be needed to justify the extension, based on certain criteria, while the composition of the board that pre-approves of sectoral agreements.
According to union officials, even though the government is talking about upgrading the supreme work council, the only thing that will be upgrades is the role of employer bodies who decide about sectoral agreements. However, in practice, around 40 agreements of that kind have been amassed in Mrs. Katseli’s office, that are yet to be approved.
Louka Katseli already returned the contract of Manned Security Forces association unsigned.
At this time, 30 collective work agreements are still pending to be signed, among which many include 4% pay raises, such as diploma-holding tourist guides, TV and cinema technicians, musicians and singers, foremen and drivers, detergent and fertilizer workers etc.
However, eight more agreements –among them the Tourist Guides of Crete and Santorini, workers in the movie business, tourist bus drivers of Crete, workers in the sand-blasting industry, employees of foreign airlines, educational and vocational training institutes for kindergarten employees- which predicted increases greater than 2.6%, were returned unsigned, with a view to further explore the contract conditions.
Against the epidemic of wage reduction, retailers are preparing a sectoral agreement to sign with the store employee union, which provides “psychological” raises of 1.7%, while at the same wavelength with the BSE, which is opposed to cuts in pay.
The second measure which will contribute to the signing of business agreements, according to court circles is impractical, since within the judicial process chaos,, it takes eight months to set a trial date and reach a decision. It is significant that no one can separate applications relating to trade unions.
The figures given by the Labour Inspectorate to the Troika –apparently in order to reassure them-, speak of 600 applications for union establishment, whereas these requests relating to establishing any form of associations are only for the sectors pertaining to welfare, sports, culture etc.
