The Greek Public Radio (ERT) and TV and the Athenian/Macedonian Press Agency (APA/MPA) have been included in the list of the Greek public organisations that are expected to reduce their personnel by 10% immediately, by identifying them as "labour redundancy". Given a first estimation, the ERT is expected to lose around 380 employees during the first phase of the reform. The administration of each organisation has two weeks' time in order to devise a list of the employees to be sacked. The ones who have met the retirement age and those who have low qualifications (primary or secondary education) will be the first ones in the list. In case these employees don't amount up to the desired 10%, employees with general administrative tasks and employees in departments of administrative support and secretariats will follow.
The employees that have been identified as "labour redundancy" will be paid for one year with 60% of their basic salary; during this time they have to seek a position in any part of the public sector. If they don't manage so in one-year's time, they will be fired. In the second phase of the reform, the organisations employing more than 100 staff members (including ERT and APA/MPA) will have to re-evaluate the whole of their personnel via the Authority for Assessment of Public Sector Personnel in the next two months, which may lead to more dismissals.
Meanwhile, according to Kathimerini newspaper, there is a scenario that 4 independent regulatory authorities are about to be merged: Authority for Protection of Private Data, Authority for Reinforing Communications' Privacy, National Broadcasting Council, National Committee of Telecommunications and Post.
The ERT is facing a tremendous shrinkage, which started with the dismissal of temporary employees during the last two years and is about to be followed by shutting a TV station and a magazine and merging regional radio stations. Given the latest updates, the Union of Employees in the ERT is having a plenary tomorrow Wednesday, whereas an Initiative of Employees has already planned a rally outside the Radio House at Aghia Paraskevi on Thursday. The International Confederation of Employees UNI MEI has sent a letter addressed to the Greek Government and particularly to Minister Ilias Mossialos, stressing their strong disapproval to the government planning to shut down basic ERT services, due to the alleged effort for "structure-modernizing reforms".
Sources: Eleftherotypia, Kathimerini, Typologies, POSPERT, Initiative of Employees in ERT
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