The relevant Greek labor minister on Wednesday was quoted as saying that his leftist government cannot accept the IMF’s positions regarding labor relations in the crisis-battered country.
Minister Giorgos Katrougalos was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday, days after representatives of creditors returned to Athens for negotiations aimed at concluding a series of “open issues” with the Tsipras government. Labor market liberalization is high on the “quartet” of creditors’ agenda.
Katrougalos, a noted local attorney who represented various unions in the country before he entered parliament and the Cabinet, charged that the IMF’s demands “essentially abolish the right of employees to negotiate the conditions of their employment in a collective bargaining agreement”.
Without using the term “red lines”, he nevertheless said his government will “fight” for collective bargaining agreements to remain a labor sector institution in the country, while adding that the Greek side cannot tolerate a further deterioration in labor relations.
Katrougalos was scheduled to meet with creditors’ representatives on Wednesday.
Concluding talks and implementing labor sector reforms is viewed as one of the prerequisites for achieving a second review of the Greek program (third bailout).
