OLME
Greek Federation of State School
Teachers of the Secondary Education
2 Kornarou str. and Ermou
www.olme.gr
e-mail: Athens, 10/3/2010
To ETUCE/EIE, EI and the Trade UNIONS of the countries in Europe.
THE SITUATION IN GREECE, THE GOVERNMENT MEASURES
AND THE STRUGGLE OF EMPLOYEES
THE POLITICAL SITUATION
Since the elections of October 2009 resulting in the election of a new government we found ourselves in a new landscape. Even those minimum pre-election commitments of the government were abandoned very soon. In the name of economic crisis and in the name of deficits there has been an on-going attack to the rights of employees. This attack becomes even harder through the promotion of measures at the expense of income, employment, social goods, and labour relations, and at the expense of our social security and pension rights.
Under the pretext of the economic crisis, in the name of the problems in the economy, and through the “New Stability Programme” submitted by the government to the European Union, the employees are being called to pay for a crisis that they did not create. Predictions talk about a lengthy “tunnel” characterized by restrictive measures and privatizations. This “tunnel” is rendering the situation insufferable for the employees while bringing at the same time new profits both to the enterprises and the banks. The creators of the crisis are finally expected to gain from its management as well.
In Europe the competition has turned into a main objective and in order to be promoted emphasis is placed upon “structural” policies (liberalization of markets, privatizations, policies establishing flexible working conditions), since both the fiscal and the monetary policy have been taken for granted. The Lisbon strategy constitutes a contemporary tool of anti-labour reforms in order to deconstruct both the social model – a remnant of the postwar model of employment-as well as the regulatory framework for the protection of employment so as to ensure cheap work force for the capital. The attack is also extended to the individual rights and freedoms.
The causes of the contemporary economic crisis, the result of which is the continuous deterioration of the living conditions in the planet due to the great climate changes, must be sought mainly in the excessive accumulation of wealth and funds in the hands of the few, in the unconditional and beyond limits competition aiming at the increase of profits, and in the unbridled speculation in the international markets. This crisis brings down all the dominant neoliberal myths of the last decades revealing thus the dead ends of neoliberalism. The dominant forces of the planet and the European Union not only have they reached positive conclusions on the current phenomena of deep crisis, but they attempt to retort by strengthening those neoliberal policies that created the crisis!
The measures announced by the government and their consequences on education and teachers.
A. Income policy
The Government has announced a decrease in teachers’ and in all civil servants’ salaries, through a 12% reduction in benefits and a 30% reduction in Christmas and Easter allowances and the summer holiday pay.
Therefore, based on the information above, teachers will suffer a nominal reduction of their annual earnings by € 1522 (for the newly appointed teacher) up to € 1715 gross (after 33 years of work) without taking into account a further decrease in the purchasing power of their income especially after the freezing of salaries in 2009. This implies a reduction of their annual earnings by 5,7%- 6,3%.
The government and several Mass Media present teachers as highly paid civil servants regardless of the well known fact that the teacher’s salary in Greece ranges from € 1060 (in the 1st year) to € 1628 net (after 33 years of work). This is done on purpose aiming at the social acceptance of measures.
The comparison of salaries between Greek teachers and their European colleagues is very revealing. According to the data published by OECD the Greek teacher receives only 51% of the average teacher’s salary in the first 12 eurozone countries after 35 years of service.
B. Social Insurance system
The government has announced the following:
· Establishment of a basic pension (€ 360) as a starting point for all sorts of basic pensions. Therefore, there is a contributory social insurance scheme relating pensions to the contributions paid throughout the working life, so that “there is a motive to remain at work”.
· Teachers and all civil servants are entitled to retirement under the provision that they are at least 63 years old and they have completed 35 years of service.
· Increase age limits for retirement in the public sector.
· Teachers are not entitled to retirement after 30 years of service even if they receive the 30/35 of their total pensionable earnings.
· Implementation of the decision of the European Court of Justice to “equalize the state pension age limits for both men and women in the Public sector as of 2013” This decision transforms the social character of the insurance system in the public sector into a professional one.
· There is a 10% reduction in the financing our social security funds which are about to collapse.
· The way is open for the creation of professional funds and private insurance systems.
C. TAXATION SYSTEM
The abolition of the already low tax exemption limit of € 12.000 for the unmarried and its connection with the collection of receipts will add new burdens to teachers and the other employees as well.
If we add to this the increase of special tax on fuel and the VAT which will provoke a series of changes such as the rise in the price of commodities, the individual income tax increase by 4,4% and the parallel reduction of tax for enterprises by 7,2% as well as the 6% increase of indirect taxes which affects mainly the employees and the weaker social groups (as they are provided for in the budget), then it is clear that the employees are being called upon to carry the burden of the crisis and pay for it instead of its creators (banks, huge enterprises etc.).
D. EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND REDUCTION IN SPENDING
No one can be proud of the fact that our country remains last in lining among the European Union countries as far as the educational expenses are concerned. The insufficient increase of funding provided for in the budget (roughly 0,35% of the GDP) keeps spending on education in the same levels for the last 20 years, deviating from the objective that the government itself has set, that is an “up to 5 % increase of the GDP for education by the end of its four-year period”. In any case, it is very far away not only from the claims of the educational movement for a DIRECT increase in state funding for education up to 5% of the GDP, but it is also very far away from the actual needs of secondary education.
An indication on how the new government deals with education in our country is a phrase included in the introductory report of the Budget: “Through the budget there is an attempt to finance educational policies aiming at the enactment of an evaluation system of the educational services provided by educational institutions in all three levels, based on the principles of effectiveness, efficiency and economy”. That is to say, this is the “market” policy in all its greatness.
· Decrease in funding.
According to the decision of the Minister of Finance there are 10% slashes in the regular budget in all Ministries (in the Ministry of Education there are cutbacks up to 781 million euros, that is 10% of the 7.808 million Euros which is the total regular budget). Furthermore, there is a 200 million Euros reduction in the Public investment programme as well as in the funding of the new programmes of the Ministry of Education.
· Decrease in recruitments
The Stability programme submitted to the EU provides for a considerable reduction in the recruitment of teachers both in the primary and the secondary education (permanent teachers are reduced from 6.000 to 3.000 and subordinate teachers from 11.000 to 3-4.000). This also proves that the reduction in the number of teachers within the next years is the real reason why the Ministry of Education promotes the change in the teachers’ recruitment system.
The consequences of these decreases will be more vacancies in schools, a considerable increase in the recruitment of part-time teachers, exercising pressure on schools to increase the number of pupils to 30, and putting pressures on permanent teachers to tighten their timetable.
IMPOSING NEW MEASURES
Apart from these, the Mass Media daily propaganda, the statements of the government officials, the pressures from the European Union officials, aim at creating a climate of acceptance of new, even worse measures in the next period of time.
The President of EU, Mr. H. Van Rompuy, stated characteristically: “The Commission will closely monitor to implementation of the recommendation in liaison with the ECB and will propose needed additional measures drawing on the expertise of the IMF …”!
Taking into consideration the above- mentioned issues we are organizing mass mobilizations in order to cancel this policy. We have already participated in four 24- hour strikes on the 10th and 24th of February and on the 5th and 11th of March, and we are organizing the next mobilizations (demonstrations and strikes).
We demand:
1. No reduction of salaries and benefits as they are provided for in the Stability programme.
2. No change in the social character of social insurance and no increase of the retirement age limits.
3. No to any unfavourable change of our work relations, no part –time work and no reduction in recruitments.
We claim our lawful demands
We defend our achievements
We say no to government measures
We say no to Stability Programme
We demand a fair redistribution of wealth
We place above all the needs of the society and the employees
We request the support of ETUCE/EIE and all Trade Unions in Europe
We propose the organization of resistance in all countries
The working rights, the salaries and the pensions of employees are being threatened all around Europe. The Greek employees are the first to be threatened.
We believe that Trade Unions should organize a Pan-European day of resistance against the Stability Programme throughout Europe.
For the E.B. of OLME
The President The General Secretary
Dimitris Peppes Nikos Papaxristos