Yesterday, trade unions received invitations to attend a session of the Labour Advisory Body (LAB) on February 19, following the issuance of a strict joint statement regarding the issue of employing personnel from third countries, as reported by Phileleftheros.
It is anticipated that the discussion on employment strategy will reopen during the session.
From the Ministry of Labour, we were informed that the Advisory session was scheduled to be announced within days, but was expedited after recent interventions by the trade unions.
From the trade union side, the demand for a review of the strategy based on its own parameters is strong and common, expressed in yesterday’s press conference of SEK, PEO, and DEOK and in a joint statement issued later.
The trade union side advocates reducing unfair competition between workers and businesses, as well as implementing the government’s position on extending the institution of collective agreements.
There are needs in the labour market that must be met, however, there must be a clear recording of the real needs by economic activity sector, by business, and by professional branch, so that regulation for foreign workers does not suffer exploitation, stated Andreas Matsas, General Secretary of SEK.
A basic parameter for the trade union front regarding the approval of permits is the re-establishment of technical committees (where unions were represented) to ensure a transparent process of evaluating requests, as well as the implementation of collective agreements, to ensure that these workers will be employed based on the actual needs of businesses and the smooth functioning of labour relations, in order to avoid exploitation and unfair competition.
The uniond, as Mr. Matsas told us, will not jump ahead and will wait to evaluate what they will hear on February 19, as they emphasize that everything will be judged by the result and not by the intentions.
At the same time, the trade union side characterizes the new effort as the last chance to exploit the institutionalized dialogue and avoid escalation of disagreement.
It is noted that the renewal of collective agreements in the construction and hotel industry is pending, with the unions putting the issue on the table for resolution at this stage, before the start of the tourist season.
They clarify that if the pending issues are not resolved, they will be forced to take action.
Moreover, through their announcement, they made it clear: “The trade union organizations demand the immediate convening of the LAB for discussion and conclusion on this issue, taking into account that the deadlines are particularly tight in the two major sectors of the economy (hotels and construction) and will not be responsible if we are led to labour unrest during the critical period starting in a few months”.
In the same announcement, the trade union organizations express “intense concern and reaction and call on the government to terminate the existing process followed for a year now, without the element of transparency and comprehensive regulation of the employment strategy for foreign workers, resulting in deregulation of the labour market and encouragement of labour exploitation and downgrading of the institution of Collective Agreements”.
Unfortunately, as they say, for a year now the Government has been proceeding without any consultation, bypassing social dialogue, in granting employment permits to workers from third countries, without taking their positions into account.
Their concern has grown, they add, as during his recent press conference, the President of the Republic made announcements on the issue, without any reference to the need to implement collective agreements.
