The pilot implementation of the four-day workweek, the Collective Labor Agreements, as well as the bill on equal pay at work between men and women were the topics of the interview given to SKAI television by the Minister of Labour and Social Security Niki Kerameos.
Commenting on a newspaper front page about the pilot implementation of the four-day workweek for OTE employees, the minister noted that this headline confirms what the Minister had said to PASOK on the matter, namely that the legislative framework for its implementation already exists.
“We had told them the following, that an organization can, through a Collective Labor Agreement, come and provide for the four-day workweek, and that is exactly what this particular company did and it became reality. Therefore, this is the tangible proof that the institutional framework exists and it obviously rests with businesses and employees to make use of this framework. So this is how, on the basis of the regulation we voted for about six months ago, the four-day workweek is already becoming reality in certain businesses,” said the minister.
On the occasion of the announcements by Piraeus Bank and Alpha Bank for starting salaries of 1,700 and 1,600 euros respectively, based on Collective Labor Agreements that were signed, Ms. Kerameos pointed out that this stems from the new momentum of the National Social Agreement that the government signed with the National Social Partners.
“We negotiated last year for 9 months, throughout 2025. We reached an agreement in November 2025, on this new framework that makes it easier to conclude a Collective Labor Agreement and to extend the Collective Labor Agreement to more employees”. As the minister clarified, immediately after its passage, Collective Labor Agreements began to be signed in tourism and catering, in confectionery, among bakers. “There is, therefore, a new momentum in Collective Labor Agreements and what we had said is becoming reality exactly. That is, the state sets a minimum wage and from there on everyone can negotiate something better. Some plus 20%, others plus a much higher percentage. Here is the tangible proof that the mechanism of the Agreement works. I am very pleased to see this, because there is no better response to high prices, which is a huge challenge for very, very many of our fellow citizens”.
As the minister clarified, the government, in order to address high prices, is moving on two axes that include increasing wages and reducing taxes.
Ms. Kerameos referred to the new workers' housing settlement in Grevena, a project that had not been completed for 23 years, and last week the first 40 allocation deeds were delivered. “Within the next weeks the remaining 40 are also being delivered, so the project is being completed. When I went to the Ministry of Labour two years ago and asked to see where this project stood, it was stuck. It was stuck more broadly in the gears, as we say, of Greek bureaucracy. Together we unblocked it, found a solution, completed the construction, and last week we went to deliver the first 40 houses. I will not forget a gentleman who, at the moment he received the allocation deed, came and told me ‘no more being hosted in other people's homes’”.
Regarding the bill on equal pay between men and women for the same work, which is being discussed in Parliament, the minister pointed out that “your pay should depend on your work and your worth and not on your gender. You may ask me, is it possible in the year 2026 that we are discussing whether your pay depends on your gender? Unfortunately there are still certain cases. That is, you may have two employees, a man and a woman, in the same job position, with the same responsibilities, and the same qualifications, and the woman may be paid 13%, 14%, 15% less than the man”.
Referring to yesterday’s hearing of stakeholders, Ms. Kerameos underlined that “yesterday’s hearing of stakeholders was very moving, because the overwhelming majority of stakeholders, from every field, expressed themselves very positively both about the bill and about the fact that even before the bill reached Parliament we had incorporated more than 90 proposals. Therefore it is a product of consultation. The bill becomes much better when you listen to the stakeholders”.