working hours for civil servants, whose union has already voiced opposition to such a move, in an interview published yesterday.
Asked by the daily Kathimerini if state employees might have to do a 40-hour week instead of the current 37-and-a-half hours, Ragoussis said that the measure would save 45,000 jobs and be of great value both for Greece’s struggling economy and the general public.
He noted that private sector workers still had to do 40 hours and did not have the security of employment enjoyed in the state sector.
Public service union Adedy warned the government last month about any measure that would further reduce the income of the 750,000 civil servants.
Ragoussis said the exercise would help to reduce the public wage bill to 16bn euros by 2014, compared to 22bn in 2009, in line with the austerity measures required by the European Union and International Monetary Fund as part of Greece’s economic bailout.
Civil servants have already seen their income cut by 15% according to the government, and 25% according to Adedy.
source: AFP
