Greece has passed a controversial labor reform despite nationwide protests and union outrage.
Greece’s parliament has approved a government-backed reform that lets employers extend working days to 13 hours under certain conditions. The move has sparked mass protests from workers already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.
The legislation, passed by the government majority, expands the current eight-hour day.
The opposition accused the ruling party of eroding labour rights and “pushing the country back to the Middle Ages,” with some lawmakers calling the bill a “legislative monstrosity.” According to Eurostat, Greeks already work the most in the EU, averaging 40 hours a week compared to 35 across the bloc.
The government says the reform will modernize labour laws and insists that longer shifts will remain optional, apply only to the private sector, and will be limited to 37 days a year. Officials argue the change allows employees to work extra for the same employer instead of juggling multiple part-time jobs.
Labour unions, however, have denounced the law as a blow to workers’ rights amid stagnant wages and soaring living costs. They have already staged two general strikes this month, the latest of which was on Tuesday. The public-sector union ADEDY warned that the measure amounted to “the abolition of the eight-hour day, the destruction of family and social life, and the legalization of over-exploitation.”
“When the rest of Europe is discussing shorter hours, in Greece we’re increasing them,” a Greek bartender told Reuters, noting his rent had doubled in two years.
Union leaders say the reform strips workers of negotiating power in a country plagued by undeclared labor and low average wages.
“You can’t really refuse; they always find ways to impose what they want,” a 46-year-old construction worker protesting in Thessaloniki this week told AFP.
Greece is still recovering from its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in 2018 after years of austerity that wiped out a quarter of its economy. Wages remain below pre-crisis levels, and Greeks’ purchasing power is among the lowest in the EU, according to Eurostat. In 2024, the government introduced a six-day work week in certain sectors to boost economic growth.
