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Greek Civil Servants Face 40 Hour Work Week

Greek Interior Minister Yannis Ragoussis hinted at longer working hours for civil servants, whose union has already voiced opposition to such a move, in an interview published Saturday, AFP reported.
Asked by the daily Kathimerini if state employees might have to do a 40-hour week instead of the current 37-and-a-half hours, Ragoussis said that the measure would save 45,000 jobs.  This would be of great value both for Greece’s struggling economy and the general public.
He noted that private sector workers still have to work 40 hours and did not have the security of employment enjoyed in the state sector.
Public service union Adedy warned the government last month about any measure that would further reduce the income of the 750,000 civil servants, as the government is planning to rationalise their multifarious salary scales.
Ragoussis said the exercise would help to reduce the public wage bill to 16 billion euros by 2014, compared to 22 billion in 2009.  This is in line with the austerity measures required by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, as part of Greece’s economic bailout.
Civil servants have already seen their income cut by 15% according to the government, and 25% according to Adedy.

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