Growth bill strikes at the core of collective labour bargaining, Achtsioglou says

"The omnibus bill for growth strikes a blow at the heart of collective labour bargaining and is an issue that concerns the wages of thousands of workers," stated SYRIZA MP Effie Achtsioglou, the main opposition party's sector-head for labour issues, in an interview to Athina 9.84 radio on Friday.

Achtsioglou added: "During the last strike, [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis attempted to say that only a few people reacted because this concerns only trade unionists but this is absolutely untrue...the essence of the section of the bill on labour is a blow to collective bargaining."

In reality, she noted, the government was returning Greece to the regime for collective bargaining imposed by Greece's creditors during the second memorandum and doing so entirely voluntarily, without any outside pressure "but because the government is making a very specific choice to return us there."