GREECE
Greek Public Servants are pushing back against a controversial evaluation system, with their umbrella union, ADEDY calling on employees and managers to boycott the process.
ADEDY also said it would join forces with the private sector union GSEE to call a general strike for 30 May as a protest against austerity.
At the behest of Greece’s creditors, a series of Governments have launched successive half-hearted initiatives to overhaul the Public Service.
Every time, the efforts have been undercut by unions ordering employees of State Agencies not to submit the assessment forms demanded by the Ministry of Administrative Reform.
Meetings between Ministry officials and unionists have consistently failed to break the deadlock.
Nevertheless, Minister for Administrative Reform, Olga Gerovasili expressed her confidence that the process would be completed smoothly, adding that she believed a majority of PS staff would participate.
“A window for dialogue with ADEDY remains open,” Ms Gerovasili said.
The process of evaluating last year’s PS performance must be completed by June, in line with the Government’s bailout commitments.
In a bid to avoid last year’s problems — chiefly a boycott of the process by Local Authorities — the Government is conducting the evaluation via an online platform.
The idea is that employees will be less subject to influence by other colleagues or their superiors if they are submitting their assessments in this way.
Resistance was highest among municipal workers last year, while staff at Ministries were more responsive, with 70 per cent participating.
Athens, 9 May 2018
