Editorial Ta Nea: Changes

The draft legislation regulating the labour market was ready long before it was submitted to public consultation.

The delay in presenting it was part of an effort to avert an opposition backlash that focuses not on the bill per se but rather with the timing chosen to table it. That delay offers an opportunity to conduct a public debate on the substance, and not for the sake of appearances that could impact on parties’ poll ratings.

One might look at the labour bill as a great wager for the government, not only because it will count its forces as it measures the reactions of the opposition, especially the left-wing main opposition, but also because this is the first bill that signals the opening of a great reform cycle throughout the country.

The changes effected in the daily life of workers and employers can be described as a shift in model and in mentality.

The Greek state must at long last adapt to the demands of 2021 and offer a legislative answer to the situation that has been shaped by work life, instead of remaining stuck to labour laws drafted to solve the problems of others from bygone eras.

The examples of governments that retreated from emblematic reforms that they had declared demonstrate that they were unable to effect any major reform.

Given the fact that public opinion – which was expressed clearly in the last general election – has expressed the desire to change much of what we considered given before the many crises of the past decade, the current government must ensure that the path toward modernisation will begin.