I
n the same year, when law 2112 “on the ter-
mination of the employment of clerks, labour-
ers, servants”, which specified the advance
notice period and the amount of severance pay in
case of dismissal, came into force, no one
believed that in the next century workers would
become the target of the “troika”, and it would
take just 7 months to overturn the achievements
of the labour movement since the dawn of the
20th century.
However, the map of labour rights is under revi-
sion, and pretty soon it will bear no resemblance
at all to what we used to know. Step-by-step
achievements of an entire century are overturned,
with the main aim of reducing labour costs and
introducing full deregulation and flexibility in the
labour market. It is estimated that 80% of the
employed will not only have to adapt to the new
conditions that are being imposed, but they will
also have to be prepared for new forms of
Trade with Greece
77
The new
situation
in the
labour
market
In 1920, when the 8-hour working day was legislat-
ed for the printers of Athens and the miners of
Lavrion, no one could ever imagine that, 90 years
later, flexible forms of employment -even 65-hour
working weeks- would be the norm in the labour
market.
By Sissy Stavropierrakou
