In the post-election euphoria, the new government of SYRIZA and Alexis Tsipras simultaneously announced the reinstatement of dismissed public officials, raising the minimum wage and stopping privatization. With an attitude of government that frees people from the “occupiers” and provides a better future, Tsipras’ ministers paved the way for immediate actions to cancel the decisions of the previous government.
Labor Minister Panos Skurletis announced that they will immediately get down to work to return and improve collective labor agreements and return the minimum wage from 500 to 751 euros as it was before the crisis. Skurletis said that they will also immediately work on improving workers’ rights and the abolition of the law of Antonis Samaras, which was assessed as a “law adopted by the military junta,” for forced mobilization of employees in the event of a strike to forcefully terminate long-term labor strikes.
Although the previous government was obliged to lay off thousands of state employees to reduce the cost of public administration, the new government plans to reinstate part of the fired workers. It is estimated that about 7,500 fired works will be reinstated. As announced by the Minister of Reforms George Katrugalos, around 2500-3500 fired civil servants will be reinstated within a month. Most of the hygienists, who strike in front of the Ministry of Finance for months now, school custodians and part of teachers of vocational subjects, will be reinstated.
Regarding the reinstatement of fired workers, Katrugalos announced that the budget will be used for 15,000 new jobs in the public administration. Reinstatement of laid-off from state service ERT is also projected.
The government will put an end to the privatization which is requested by international creditors for payment of the debt. Minister of Production Development, Environment and Energy Panayiotis Lafazanis and Minister of Maritime Theodoros Dricas announced that all processes of privatization of state-owned energy and transport companies are stopped. Government freezes privatization of ports in Thessaloniki and the port of Piraeus, stops the sale of 14 smaller airports, fully closes the procedure for the privatization of the electricity company DEI, and it also won’t allow the privatization of state-owned oil refinery ELPE.
The first symbolic step which the government made to create an image of a government that respects and wants to cooperate was the removal of fences, which, due to protests and riots, were placed in front of the Greek Parliament for a long time.
