Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-02-17

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK, GSEE see labour rights threatened

[02] ADEDY urges open dialogue on pension system

[01] PASOK, GSEE see labour rights threatened

He was referring to the collapse of talks between trade unions and employers on Thursday for a nationwide collective labour agreement.

"This undermining of collective negotiations destroys social cohesion and unity and the country's ability to go forward and face the new developments," he added.

Greece cannot be one of those countries that will depend on development through cheap labour, PASOK's leader noted.

"There is another way, which is to invest in people, on protecting social rights and adapting to the new conditions with the labour movement, with the labour movement in the lead. It is a completely different approach and it is this approach the government is attacking," he said.

Papandreou did not hesitate to link the current stressful climate in labour relations with an assault against Polyzogopoulos some two weeks earlier, saying that the motives of the unidentified assailants were clearly political.

Commenting on the positions of the Union of Greek Industry (SEB) during Thursday's labour talks, he said that PASOK was chiefly concerned with protecting the right to collective negotiations, which were a fundamental democratic right.

Polyzogopoulos said the stance of employers was a threat to both worker and pensioner incomes and the fundamental democratic right to collective expression and negotiation, equating the present situation in Greece with the attack on the British trade union movement under Margaret Thatcher, with bank clerks taking the place of miners.

"SEB yesterday appeared to be fully in-step with the orders of (Finance Minister George) Alogoskoufis, fully in step with a direction that it obeys," he said, noting that developments left workers in the private sector unable to organise to defend their rights.

Roussopoulos: PASOK divided by internal problems

Responding to Papandreou's attack, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said he was reminded of past criticism levelled against former PASOK premier Costas Simitis by members of his own party.

He claimed that PASOK was divided between what should be done and the need to make speeches for communications reasons, in order to deal with its internal party problems.

Regarding the outcome of the labour talks between GSEE and SEB, Roussopoulos said that the government would not interfere in the negotiations between the social partners.

He also noted that the government had given the highest wage increases possible in the public sector, at a time when things were difficult but hopeful for the economy.

"The government's decisions have helped correct the economy's problems. When the economy as a whole prospers, then the citizens also prosper," Roussopoulos concluded.

Concerning a European Commission report on Greece, the spokesman said the government had focused on fixing the problems, especially the large deficit, and this is now recognised by the EU.

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[02] ADEDY urges open dialogue on pension system

Papaspyros stressed that ADEDY would finalise its decisions for strike mobilisations in the first half of March during a meeting with all federations to be held February 22.

ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved.

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