by Madeleine Kando As many of you have done over the past week or so, I watched the quite violent demonstrations against the new ‘Austerity Measures’ that the Greek Government has voted for. This they will put in place under pressure from the EU and the markets. In return they will get bailed out by the other European countries (mostly Germany) so that the country won’t go kaput.
As I understand it about 10 percent of the Greek population works for the government. They work 12 months but get paid for 14. They retire at age 54.
So I thought to myself: ‘well, that does warrant some form of austerity.’ It wasn’t easy to find information on what exactly the protesters were so irate about but this is what I found on the Reuters site:
Half of the fiscal adjustment will be generated from spending cuts and half from tax increases.
First the tax increases:
1) Sales tax will go up from 19% to 21% (In other words a $595 computer will cost you now $605)
2) Tax will go up on cigarettes (not such a bad thing, if you ask me), on electricity and on luxury goods.
3) Church property and income will be taxed (well, it’s about time I would say).
4) One-off tax on big property holdings (very fair and austere) and one-off tax of 1% on those who earned over 100,000 euros in 2009.
5) They are reintroducing a progressive tax on large property holdings and will introduce a capital gains tax.
Now for the spending cuts:
1) 30% cuts in salary bonuses for Easter, Christmas and vacation for government employees. (I don’t think I every received a bonus in my life).
2) 7% cut in bonus and pay reductions in utility salaries (how dare they cut in bonuses of those poor poor employees).
3) Cuts in subsidies to pension funds (which come from tax revenue. Everyone knows that Greeks never cheat on their taxes).
4) Public sector supplements will be cut by 12 percent in total, compared to 10 percent announced previously. (what supplements?)
5) State employees’ overtime pay will be cut by 30%. (how dare they cut in one’s overtime).
6) A hiring freeze for public sector jobs. (well duh.. 10% of the population is more than enough I would say).
7) Increase the average retirement age by two years to 63 years (oh, how cruel can they be!?).
8) 10 percent reduction in social security expenditures in 2010.
So my question is: what exactly do the demonstrators want? Do the Greeks live in another galaxy, far far away? Do they live in la la land? leave comment here
2 comments:
Greeks are no different, as individuals, than anyone else. No one wants a pay cut or a cut in benefits. Unfortunately global competition has cut average pay and benefits in the private sector as many Western middle-class jobs have moved to Asia. People in their 20s are the first generation to see even school teachers making more money than most private sector jobs. It is a reverse of 30 years ago where teachers were one of the most underpaid professions. I'm not saying that teachers are at all overpaid from ideal standards, but comparatively many people envy them and other government employees today. We are going to see a backlash demanding for reduced government pensions and cushy agency jobs.
I believe Greece has a particularly bloated public sector. I agree, no one is happy with a pay cut. But retiring at age 54 and getting paid an extra month without working for it, must have contributed somewhat to the crisis.
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