It is completely understandable and fair for all employees, both in the public and private sectors, to want to see their wages increase and approximate their wages prior to the crisis. This is neither easy nor simple, since there is a distinct danger of undoing the sweater that was made from so many sacrifices.
According to the Ministry of Finances, the government is trying to balance the need to satisfy the people – namely to see a light at the end of the tunnel – and to ensure that we avoid entering a vicious cycle of deficits.
The provisions implemented under pressure from judicial decision are obviously not fair or balanced nor do they correct any greater injustices, as they are primarily enforced by the social strata with the strongest clamping force. It must also be made clear that the Greek economy is still in a fragile fiscal balance and still dependant on the dispensation of loan installments from Europe.
The need therefore to rectify some of the injustices of the previous period must not and cannot jeopardize the effort to finally exit the crisis. All that clientelism achieves is to cause the reactions of other social groups and have a negative impact on the country’s image.
It is the government duty and responsibility to manage the judicial decisions without putting the economy’s recovery at risk. Unfortunately, there is not enough money to satisfy the fair, in many cases, demands of employees. Unless of course we want to regress to the old mentality of “there is money for everyone” which we are all well aware of how it turned out.
TO VIMA
