The social situation in Greece

[Bert Bakker]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Heerlijk. Zo'n verhaal doet echt verlangen naar een links kabinet.
Of naar een liberale revolutie ;-)



2010/2/25 Antid Oto <aorta at home.nl>

> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>
> The social situation in Greece
> By Marcus Salzmann
> 25 February 2010
>
> The European Union has dictated a rigid austerity course for Greece,
> aimed at lowering the country’s existing budget deficit from its
> current level of nearly 13 percent to less than 3 percent. Broad
> layers of the Greek population reacted to the government’s announced
> program of cuts by taking to the streets and participating in strike
> action yesterday. For their part, the major trade union federations
> are working closely with the social-democratic administration of
> George Papandreou to channel these protests and strikes so they do not
> threaten the government.
>
> Prominent on yesterday’s strike were public service workers who will
> be hit especially hard by government cuts. They were also joined on
> the streets yesterday by many farmers protesting cuts to subsidies
> that threaten to put them out of business.
>
> In response to the protests European politicians, business and media
> representatives have undertaken an offensive demanding that the
> planned cuts be implemented ruthlessly, with some quarters even
> criticizing the government’s program as too timid.
>
> The head of the European Central bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, said
> Greece must strengthen its endeavours in order to demonstrate the
> viability of its austerity plans aimed at reducing the huge budget
> deficit. The plans announced so far are inadequate in order for Greece
> to maintain the Maastricht criteria in such a short period, according
> to Trichet, who is pushing for a harder course. “All Greeks must
> recognize that they must correct a course which has gone out of
> control”, he said.
>
> The head of the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Hans
> Werner Sinn, called for measures “that really hurt”—while Rolf
> Langhammer, vice-president of the Institute for World Economy in Kiel,
> demanded a clear lowering of real wages in order to revive the
> country’s competitiveness.
>
> The German financial secretary of state, Jörg Asmussen, also declared,
> “We are certainly of the opinion that additional measures are
> necessary by Greece”. According to Asmussen, the country must be
> measured against Ireland (which uses the euro as its currency) and
> Latvia (which does not)—both countries having begun to implement
> draconian cuts aimed at reducing their respective debt burdens.
>
> These appeals have been echoed in the media. The Nürnberger
> Nachrichten insists on huge attacks on the population: “No, there is
> only the one way: use massive pressure to force the euro-partner onto
> the path of virtue. In addition to cuts in the social and pension
> systems, it is necessary to slash the army of state officials, make
> real wage cuts, increase taxes and reduce expenditure”.
>
> Cynically, the media then claims the Greek population is responsible
> for the debt crisis. Many interviews and comments conclude by
> remarking that “Greeks have lived beyond their means” and now must
> “adjust their belts accordingly”.
>
> In terms of wages and social standards, Greece in fact ranks amongst
> the worst-paid countries in Europe.
>
> The social situation for a majority of the population has already
> clearly deteriorated in past years. The official unemployment rate is
> at present 18 percent, and according to official figures 20 percent of
> Greeks live under the poverty line. An even higher level is recorded
> by social welfare organizations.
>
> Sixty percent of pensioners registered with the biggest state pension
> funds must survive on less than €600 per month, and average salaries
> in public service are around just €1,200.
>
> In particular, youth unemployment has risen rapidly in recent years.
> In 1998, 21 percent of all 15-to-24 year olds were out of work. In
> 2009, this figure had risen to over 27 percent. Those youth lucky
> enough to get work are required to subsist on a salary averaging €700
> per month.
>
> Unemployment is a problem for many university graduates, and the
> situation for doctors is particularly difficult. According to figures
> from the World Health Organization, Greece has the highest level of
> unemployment in this occupational group.
>
> At the same time, the cost of living is comparable with a country like
> Germany, with basic foodstuffs such as milk, cheese and eggs costing
> up to twice as much. Telephone charges in Greece are amongst the
> highest in Europe. The cost of living varies significantly according
> to region, with prices higher on Greece’s many islands due to high
> transport costs.
>
> Rents have also increased considerably in the past few years, and in
> the large cities they are also comparable with Germany. In the
> countryside rents are lower, but there is often a shortage of
> accommodation with many landlords giving priority to tourists.
>
> In relation to the cost of living, wage levels in Greece are very low
> compared to other Western European states—once again with pronounced
> regional differences: In Thessaloniki workers earns a quarter less
> than in Athens, in the rest of the country around 35 percent less.
>
> Clerical employees receive on average just 40 percent of the salary
> paid to their counterparts in Germany for a full-time job. Within the
> Eurozone, incomes are only lower in Portugal. A part-time job—the only
> way to earn a living for single parents—does not pay enough to cover
> the cost of living.
>
> The legal minimum wage is around €700, while the highest entry-level
> wage is €1,000 per month, paid to workers in financial services. The
> lowest contractually-agreed wage—around €680—is paid in mechanical
> engineering and the electrical and electronic industries. An engineer
> with up to three years professional experience earns at least €1,050
> gross per month, a programmer an average €700, a secretary with
> knowledge of foreign languages €710, an accountant €770, and a driver
> €715.
>
> Most pensions are less than the minimum wage. While pensions have
> barely risen in past years, the governments have repeatedly increased
> the retirement age. In the 1980s and 1990s public service workers in
> Greece retired in their late 50s or at 60. Today the retirement age
> lies at 65 years, with the Papandreou government intent on raising it
> even further, to 67.
>
> The government also plans to implement cuts to the country’s health
> system, which is already in an appalling condition. A national health
> service (ESY) was created in the 1980s, guaranteeing basic health care
> for all and was aimed in particular at providing health care for
> Greece’s rural regions.
>
> In the 1990s both social-democratic and conservative governments
> withdrew funding from the state-administered health insurance
> companies, in part to participate in obscure stock exchange
> transactions. As a result the health insurance system encountered
> growing problems that were further exacerbated by the stagnation of
> wages. There are currently claims totalling €5 billion on the health
> insurance companies lodged by doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and
> laboratories.
>
> The catastrophic situation in the health service has lead to
> widespread corruption. The combination of low wages and thousands of
> permanent posts for doctors and maintenance personnel remaining
> unfilled in state hospitals means that bribes are a part of everyday
> life. Anyone seeking basic care or an earlier date for their operation
> slips the doctor a “Fakelaki”—a small envelope containing cash.
>
> Younger physicians, who speak out against such immoral practice or
> reject such payments are likely to be pressurized by their colleagues
> for threatening what is widely seen as a vital wage supplement. “The
> birth of a child in a public hospital, for example, must be lubricated
> with the sum of €1,000”, reported Ellen Katja Jaeckel, the head of the
> Athens office of the Goethe Institute, in an interview over the
> protests in Greece 2008.
>
> Zachos Kamenidis made the same experience. He runs a plumbing company
> close to Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city. Like many
> others he referred to growing social decline. “Most people have to get
> by here with between €600 to €700 euros”, he said. He receives €250
> per month from the state for his three small children. When his wife
> was more pregnant with their last child, she had to pay a private
> practice €140 for an ultrasound. In one of the state hospitals in
> Thessaloniki, there is no ultrasound equipment.
>
> At the same time, corruption is not limited to the health service. The
> Greek professor of macroeconomics at the University of Leipzig, Spiros
> Paraskewopoulos, estimates that a Greek average family must pay
> approximately €1,600 per year in bribes.
>
> http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/gre3-f25.shtml
>
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