The Ministry of Labor under Niki Kerameos has decided to extend by one month, until the end of October, the deadline for submitting proposals regarding the roadmap for expanding collective bargaining agreements. This decision comes as a response to social partners’ delays in forming their positions on this critical issue.
Collective bargaining: Three major reforms coming
During contacts between technical teams, agreement was reached on launching three significant reforms in collective negotiations, according to a report by “Apogevmatini“. At the same time, an equal number of problematic points requiring immediate resolution were identified.
According to official data from the Labor Minister, 50% of employees receive monthly salaries above €1,000. Additionally, 42 economic sectors offer wages higher than the national average, which was set at €1,342 in 2024 and €1,478 for full-time employees. Notably, 16 of these sectors (38%) belong to the industrial and manufacturing sector.
Points of convergence and proposed legislative regulations
Areas where unanimous agreement is observed and immediate legislative consolidation is expected include:
• Reducing the percentage of employer representation required for extending contract terms to an entire sector
• Modernizing the operational procedures of the Mediation and Arbitration Organization
• Simplifying legitimization and registration procedures for union and employer representatives in the digital registry
Main obstacles in collective bargaining
The most significant problems requiring resolution stem mainly from the restrictive terms of memorandums and concern: The extensibility of contracts, where the ministry aims to drastically reduce the required percentage and establish a permanent extension mechanism. The goal is to create incentives that will encourage employers to participate more actively in collective negotiations. The aftereffect period, a memorandum provision that limited a work contract’s validity period to three months from the previous six months. A return to six months is requested to strengthen the signing of more collective agreements.
Challenges in implementing new regulations
Concurrence constitutes an additional problem, as it has been found in many companies belonging to broader groups that employees could be covered by more than one contract. This means coverage could come from both enterprise-level and occupational or sectoral agreements. Employee representatives insist that for each worker, the most favorable of the available contracts should apply.
A significant development is also expected from the Council of State’s decision, to which employee representatives have appealed. Today, the agreement of both employee and employer representatives is required, which is practically difficult to achieve. The Ministry of Labor and employer organizations promote a culture of reconciliation and understanding, so that arbitration is used only in extreme cases.
Finally, group contracts constitute a new proposal that would allow large groups with hundreds of employees to sign unified collective labor agreements.
The action plan, as provided by current legislation, lasts from one to five years and establishes a clear timeline with specific measures for gradually increasing the percentage of collective bargaining coverage.
