K. Hatzidakis: Will of the government to declare the Collective Bargaining Agreement mandatory

The issues of filling the vacancies in the catering sector, the working conditions in the sector and the declaration of the sectoral employment contract as mandatory for all employees in the sector, were discussed at the teleconference held today by the Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs Kostis Hatzidakis and Of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias with the representatives of the General Confederation of Professionals – Craftsmen – Merchants (GSEVEE) and the Panhellenic Federation of Food Workers – Tourism (POET).

Regarding the filling of the vacancies, following the meeting that preceded with SETE for the jobs in the tourism companies, it was agreed that the companies in the catering sector should immediately submit the available positions to DYPA in order to cross paths with the registered ones. in the register of the Service and to proceed to the filling of the positions, for the benefit of both the employees and the companies.

Regarding the working conditions in the sector, Mr. Hatzidakis stressed that the controls by SEPE will be strict. “The issue has to do not only with the rights of workers but also with the image of Greece. Images that show that workers are not treated properly, have a negative reflection not only on themselves but also in the country,” said the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. Cases.

On the issue of the Collective Agreement, Mr. Hatzidakis clarified that the will of the government is to be declared mandatory, as has already been done with the sectoral agreement of the hotels. “It will be a positive message for the workers, a message of justice,” he said. He asked the involved social partners to cooperate and fulfill the obligations provided by law in order for the process to proceed quickly, in view of the start of the tourist season.

It is noted that a meeting of the Supreme Labor Council has already been scheduled for May 31 in order to issue the opinion required by law for the extension of the Contract and then to sign immediately the decision of the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. A precondition for the examination of the issue is that the social partners in the ASE disclose the data provided by law in order to determine the percentage of employees covered by the Contract.

The Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias stated:

“The development trajectory of Greek tourism concerns both the primary production, as well as the commercial world and the stores of health interest. From the side of the Government as a whole, but especially from the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Tourism, there is a clear provision, so -given the multiple crises we have been called upon to manage these three years- to be able to work together again with tangible results for the benefit of the average Greek family and society as a whole. Personally, I strongly believe in cooperation. with which we have been operating since 2020 – at a time when we did not even have vaccines – that where there is healthy cooperation of all stakeholders – central government, private sector, employers and employees – obviously this is in everyone’s interest. We forget that in all this effort, the Greek Government for the last three years has supported households, working companies with € 50 billion, including recent support to address rising energy costs following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The good mood, then, exists and will continue to exist. And this is obvious. As far as the tourism industry is concerned, we must not forget that our ambassadors are our employees. But also the fact that tourism is a matter for many, as 1 in 4 euros of the country’s GDP comes, indirectly or directly, from tourism activity. The first data from the reservations and arrivals in our country are more than encouraging. We are therefore called to defend but also to strengthen the “locomotive” of the Greek economy, in the best possible way, we will defend the interests of both workers and companies in the sector, and we will do it all together – joining forces without delay. – so that on the one hand as many people as possible find a job and on the other hand we reduce the gaps that have been created in specific specialties related to our tourism product “.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary General of Labor Relations Anna Stratinaki, the Secretary General of Tourism Policy and Development Olympia Anastassopoulou, the Commander of DYPA Spyros Protopsaltis, the President of GSEVEE George Kavvatos, the President of POE Dimitrios Koutoukis and the Deputy General Secretary Nikolaos Krommidas.