Sharp criticism against Ministry of Labor exercises the Federation of Private Education Operators of Greece (OIELE), referring to a «shameful amendment – a gift from the minister» to owners of tutoring centers and foreign language schools, with its members staging a protest outside the Parliament tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. the MPs who will participate in the plenary session on the bill of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The Federation stresses that there is no end to the provision of «gifts» to private education entrepreneurs. The Minister of Labor, Mr. Hatzidakis, Following the legalization of «voluntary» work in private schools, now, with a surprise amendment (without any dialogue with employees, of course), it defines, with the required «creative ambiguity,» as Working day on Sunday holidays at tutoring centers and foreign language centers!
More specifically, Article 2 of the draft law submitted by the Ministry of Labor, with the rather ironic title «Jobs Again, Reorganization of the Public Employment Service and digitization of its services, upgrading of workforce skills and diagnosis of labor needs, and other provisions,» it is stipulated that:
«In paragraph 3 of Article 9 of Royal Decree 748/1966 (A’ 179), concerning the possibility of operating and employing staff on Sundays and public holidays, the following is added:
(j) All types of tutoring centers or foreign language centers, especially in cases where competitions or exams are held.
Of course, the word «specifically» is cleverly placed so as to leave a wide-open window for conducting lessons, where (yes, you guessed it) teachers will be forced to participate against their will.
«In such a heavily regulated environment as that of tutoring centers and foreign language schools, it is almost certain that the holiday will become a working day by force and, of course, without pay. And while the demand of the tutors for the legalization of their essentially «voluntary» work on Sundays was readily accepted by Mr. Hatzidakis without any discussion, OIELE's proposals for restoring legality in these areas remained in the drawers of the competent authorities,» the press release emphasizes.
The abolition of holidays in private schools and the 85% of unpaid private teachers
As mentioned above, the notorious anti-labor law 4808/2021 includes a provision according to which private schools will be able to hold activities and events (such as open days and bazaars) with «permission from the Labor Inspectorate,» a service that is essentially being abolished (i.e., with permission from the flag!). The extent to which private school owners respect this provision and declare to the PS Ergani their «delighted» private teachers who are happy to work on Sundays and public holidays was evident from the results of the major OIELE survey, according to which 85% of teachers are not paid for such activities!
Private teachers, therefore, suggest to Mr. Hatzidakis a slight change to the title of his draft law. Based on its content, a more appropriate title would be «Slavery Again!»
