Greece adopts law extending working hours despite protests

By Angeliki Koutantou and Renee Maltezou

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece's parliament approved a bill on Thursday allowing private sector employers to extend working hours despite protests from workers already struggling from a cost-of-living crisis.

The bill, which allows employers to enforce 13-hour work days, up from the current eight hours, aims to make the labour market more flexible and effective, the conservative government says.

But the proposal has triggered two general strikes this month by workers who see it as a move to undermine their rights just as they are struggling with stagnating wages and the rising costs of food and rent.

"When the rest of Europe is in discussions to reduce working hours, in Greece we increase them," said 41-year-old barman Themis Lytras, who said his rent had doubled over the past two years.

Greece already has among the longest working weeks in Europe at around 40 hours, EU data shows, against an average 34 hours worked in Germany or 32 in the Netherlands.

GREEKS STRUGGLE DESPITE ECONOMIC REBOUND

Greece is recovering from a debilitating 2009-2018 debt crisis, marked by years of belt-tightening, that wiped out a quarter of national output. 

Strong economic growth in recent years has opened up room for tax cuts and pay increases. But wages remain below pre-crisis levels and Greeks' purchasing power is among the lowest in the European Union, Eurostat data shows.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government has seen its popularity wane in opinion polls partly due to disappointment over the failure of the economic recovery to generate higher living standards.

"After the crisis, we expected a return to normality," said George Koutroumanis, a former labour minister who called the new law "absurd".

The extended work shift can only be applied three days a month and up to 37 days a year. The bill protects people from being fired if they refuse to work overtime, but unions say it strips workers of negotiating power in a country where there is undeclared work and where average wages remain relatively low.

The bill, which also gives employers more flexibility on short-term hirings and allows staff to work four days a week through the entire year upon prior agreement, was approved by a majority of lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament.

(Additional reporting by Mark John and Lefteris PapadimasEditing by Ed Osmond, Edward McAllister and Gareth Jones)