Cabinet OKs pensions reforms

Άρθρο από το Hellenic Business (www.hbnews.gr)

[27.06.2010, 06:45]

Μέγεθος γραμμάτων:

he labour law and pension reforms proposed by the government were discussed and approved by the Cabinet on Friday, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou. Addressing his ministers, Papandreou emphasised the importance of the decisions made and said that they sought to establish a climate of certainty, security and confidence in each for every Greek citizen, including working people, pensioners and the disabled. (ANA-MPA)

Commenting on the reforms to the pension and social insurance system, Papandreou stressed that changes to this were inevitable even if Greece had not turned to the eurozone-IMF support package and signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Certain of the changes would have been even faster than they were now, even if some decisions were more painful for certain social classes, he added.

The prime minister stressed that a social insurance system had first to be viable and secondly to instil a sense of fairness, while it should also be clear that the government would make every effort to improve the position of pensioners as the country's fiscal state and economy improved. (ANA-MPA)

Papandreou particularly emphasised the lack of an organised and structured welfare system in Greece, announcing that work was underway on organising such as system, with the government's proposals on this issue likely to be presented in the autumn. He promised "real and systematic help" for all those that needed welfare support, ranging from pensioners and the disabled to the unemployed, in such as way as to help them be active members of society.

On labour issues, the prime minister said that there now appeared some hope that trade unions and employers would be able to reach some sort of agreement through a process of collective labour negotiations, agreements that would cover both labour and wage issues and lead to a collective labour agreement for the coming years.