The increase in the minimum wage will bring with it the tax that the employees will pay – From 55 euros more to 159
At a time when accuracy is “galloping” and many are unable to make ends meet, Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced an increase in the minimum wage below the requirements and conditions, as the amount of approximately 39 euros cannot cover the large losses seen in the previous two years the workers.
According to the Ministry of Labour, the minimum wage will amount to 830 euros gross for those with no previous service, to 913 euros for workers with one three-year term, to 996 euros for two three-year terms and to 1,079 euros for three three-year terms.
However, the increase in the minimum wage will also involve the tax that the employees will pay, as in some cases they will give the tax office an extra 188 euros.
Specifically, according to imerisia.gr, the annual tax will be increased by 55.34% euros for those who have no previous service and have up to one child.
Employees with one three years and up to two children will pay 145.88 euros more to the tax office.
Employees with two or three years will pay 159.34 euros more to the tax office.
Finally, employees with three three-year terms will pay 188 euros more to the tax office.
Fire from the opposition
The opposition criticized the government for its announcements, while the GSEE also issued a related announcement, stressing, among other things, that the minimum wage announced by the government is “incommensurate with the needs of the workers” and that these are “increases that under no circumstances ensure conditions in which a worker who is paid the minimum wage will not be below the poverty line and will have a decent standard of living”.
As the head of Labor and Social Security of SYRIZA-PS pointed out, “the harsh reality that the government refuses to admit is that every increase that has been announced is “swallowed” by the wave of precision and overvaluation, leaving households vulnerable to daily needs and obligations and even leading to the loss of two minimum wages per year”.
“A few days ago, the Government had advertised the increase in the minimum wage, trying to change the negative agenda that had been formed against it. In the end, the die was cast at 830 euros gross, a little over 700, net for 600,000 employees, when the total number of employees in the private sector is approximately 2.5 million” emphasized the head of the SYRIZA-PS sector, underlining, among other things, that “the an increase for which the government staff boasts is around 6.4%, with inflation from 2019 to date having increased by 15%, the purchasing power of Greeks being at -33%, penultimate in Europe of 27, and the food inflation to have exceeded 6%”.
At the same time, Giorgos Gavrilos brought back the request of SYRIZA-PS for an increase in the minimum wage, at least to 900 euros, a resumption of collective bargaining and a brave increase in the average wage, in order to deal with the ongoing impoverishment of workers and society.
For his part, the president of PASOK-KINAL, Nikos Androulakis, when asked about the minimum wage, pointed out that “the nominal increase does not deal with accuracy and inequalities because, quite simply, inflation is galloping. So when the minimum wage has increased in recent years by 20% but food inflation by 32%, you understand that we have to fight precision, cartels and those who do not allow through their speculation and greed to escalate prices. The New Democracy plays pre-election communication games on this top issue as well.”
The KKE also issued a statement underlining, among other things, that “the government essentially keeps the minimum wage frozen at the level of 714 euros net, ostentatiously ignoring the requests of the unions for substantial increases, at a time when the generalized price increases in food, rents, general goods consumption leads wages to end, according to official figures, on the 19th day for the vast majority of working households. In addition, due to flexible labor relations, part-time with part-time work and life, but also the unacceptable contracts that the same government legislates (white contracts, zero hours), thousands of workers are forced to make ends meet with net salaries that do not exceed 350 euros”.
The New Left noted, for its part, that “the increase in the minimum wage announced by the government is far from the current and real needs of the workers. The 830 euros cannot compensate neither the cost of living that has been inflated by the inflation of greed and the obscene profit of the oligopolies, nor the accumulated losses of the purchasing power of the last years”.
And he added, among other things, that “the general inflation index has increased by 14.3% in the period 2021-2023, while in the two months of 2024 we have a 3% increase compared to the corresponding period last year. All this time food inflation is multiple times the general index and in the two months of 2024 prices have increased by 7.5% compared to the corresponding period last year. The real wages and purchasing power of the common and middle classes are falling under Mr. Mitsotakis’ responsibility, while labor remains cheap and inadequately protected. The celebrations of the government insult and provoke the workers”.
The announcement of the GSEE on the increase of the minimum wage
At a time when punctuality has become a noose around the neck of the workers, with inflation having exhausted their incomes and their purchasing power is in tatters, at a time when GSEE has documented a proposal for an increase to 60% of the median salary which is the poverty line plus productivity growth and estimated inflation, at a time when Greece is first in the share of business profits in national income but penultimate in the wages of private sector workers, the Government announces a minimum wage that does not correspond to the needs of workers . Increases that in no way guarantee conditions in which a minimum wage worker will not be below the poverty line and have a decent standard of living.
We are not asking for support from the state budget, we are asking for increases from our employers to deal with punctuality. We demand the collective bargaining tools back through the restoration of the institutional framework of the Collective Labor Agreements.
The GSEE has taken a decision and is organizing a General Strike for April 17 with actions that are ongoing throughout the country. Echelons of the Confederation have so far visited around 30 cities in Greece, communicating the demands and demands aimed at mass and united participation in the April strike.
The workers and this message is clear, they cannot go with wages at the tartars and with the accuracy at the heights.
