A leaked email from the EU, ECB and IMF to the Greek government has revealed further demands for labour reform. One of the suggestions is the introduction of a six-day working week. Further proposals in the letter, which comes on the eve of another troika inspection visit, include increased flexibility of work schedules; setting the minimum daily rest to 11 hours; delinking the working hours of employees from the opening hours of the establishment; eliminating restrictions on minimum/maximum time between morning and afternoon shifts; and allowing the consecutive two-week leave to be taken anytime during the year in seasonal sectors. The demands come at a time that many European leaders have criticized the lack of progress in Greece.
English: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/04/eurozone-six-day-week-greece
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19491266
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.
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