Greece’s Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras on June 26 warned former workers of the closed ERT national broadcaster who are maintaining an occupation and sending out programs via the Internet and satellite that they won’t get severance pay as long as they stay in the building.
The government fired all 2,656 workers at ERT on June 11 with five minutes notice. The country’s highest court, the Council of State, ruled on June 17 that while Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had the right to restructure the operation that the signal had to be restored. He ignored the ruling.
Stournaras had previously ordered the building evacuated by the workers, who ignored him. Now he said they are risking their last payments and the monies won’t be disbursed until the government gets inside and gets access to the archives inside the ERT building.
He also added that week ERT’s permanent workers received two salaries, as the first dose of their total compensation as severance.
He said that the new Deputy Minister in charge of ERT appointed during a Cabinet shakeup, former journalist Pantelis Kapsis, is trying to work out a solution with the former workers as well. He also will oversee setting up the replacement for ERT, an entity to be called NERIT, which will consist of 1000-1200 workers.
He said he would also not allow political hirings although the new New Democracy-PASOK alliance is the same parties who stuffed ERT with political hires for generations.
Stournaras finally said that the competent deputy minister Pantelis Kapsis has undertaken the responsibility for carrying out this agreement with the assistance of the Finance Ministry as legal successor of ERT.
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