The lawsuit that was launched by DEI against its employee federation GENOP will be examined at midday on Friday by the First Instance Court of Athens. DEI has demanded that the employee strike be declared illegal and abusive, while the employee federation demands that the privatization plans be abandoned.
Government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi appeared on Mega Channel on Friday morning and stated that the coalition government will do everything necessary to ensure the public interest, hinting towards the possibility of a civil mobilization. With pressure mounting though and the employees determined to carry on with their protest, the Minister of Energy has submitted a number of changes to the draft bill.
Amongst the improvements are the provisions of all privatization revenue going back into DEI and offering employees protection from redundancy for five years. Furthermore, Mr. Maniatis has also introduced provisions so that the new privatized company is not exclusively given “prime” DEI clients, but rather a mixed list.
Parliamentary Committee approves draft bill in principle
Meanwhile the Committee on Trade and Production in Parliament approved in principle the controversial draft bill, with the support of New Democracy and PASOK. As expected, the opposition parties – SYRIZA, ANEL, DIMAR, Golden Dawn and KKE – vote against the draft. The discussion regarding individual articles continues.
