KKE condemns court ruling against restoring 13th and 14th public sector salaries

In a statement, the Press Office of the KKE Central Committee said:

‘The decision of the Plenary Session of the Council of State, which rejects the just demand of public sector workers for the reinstatement of the 13th and 14th salaries, adopts all the government’s wretched arguments, which previous governments also invoked, and constitutes further proof that the state and its institutions consistently serve the same anti-popular policy.’

The party said the decision effectively legitimises the continuation of cuts imposed on public sector workers by successive governments, confirming what it described as the permanent character of the austerity measures introduced under Greece’s bailout agreements, despite successive governments’ claims to the contrary.

‘The invocation of European law and fiscal stability proves that the anti-popular policy of the European Union and capital constitutes a common strategy, regardless of which parties implement it each time.’

The KKE also criticised the court’s reference to fiscal resilience and the argument that the absence of the 13th and 14th salaries does not undermine public sector workers’ ability to maintain a dignified standard of living.

‘Also provocative is the invocation of fiscal strength, as well as the claim that the non-payment of the 13th and 14th salaries does not threaten the dignified living of public sector workers, when employees receive a shameful salary that is eaten away by the constant rise in the cost of living, while business groups enjoy tax exemptions, subsidies and privileges worth billions of euros.’

The KKE said it supports public sector workers’ struggles for the immediate reinstatement of the 13th and 14th salaries and substantial pay rises.

It called on workers to strengthen organisation within their trade unions and ‘intensify their struggle against the policy that sacrifices the needs of the people for the profits of the few’.

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