Three year agreement signed for security personnel

On 24 July 2002, the Federation of Greek Private Employees (OIYE) and representatives of the Association of Security Companies (ENEA) and the Hellenic Security Federation concluded a new sectoral collective agreement for some 400 enterprises providing security services and security systems all over Greece. The agreement covers around 10,000 security personnel, which it defines in article 1 as including - as well as guards, chief guards and supervisors - reception employees whose duties include the provision of information and guidance to customers, provided they are employed by companies providing security services.

The accord has a three-year term, running retroactively from 1 January 2002 until 31 December 2004. The content of the agreement, in terms of both pay and other issues, represents a significant improvement for workers, compared with the first agreement signed in the sector, signed in June 1998 (GR9807183N).

The settlement for security personnel is of particular importance, insofar as it is the first sectoral collective agreement to be concluded for a three-year term specifically in view of the 2004 Olympic Games, which are to be held in Athens (GR9912157N). The agreement itself states that during negotiations the contracting parties, in a spirit of responsibility for the economic and social development of the country and particularly in view of the organisation of the Olympic Games, agreed to sign a three-year deal regarding the terms and conditions of pay and employment of the sector’s workers, so as to ensure better planning on the part of companies and greater pay and job security for the workers, and to enshrine industrial peace.

The new agreement provides for a total pay increase of around 6% in 2002, to be paid in two instalments. The first instalment of 3.6% will cover the period from 1 January 2002 to 30 June, and the second instalment of 2.4% will cover the period from 1 July to 31 December. During 2003, basic wages will increase by the percentage of the indexation provided for in the 2002-3 National General Collective Agreement (EGSSE) (GR0204109F) from 1 January 2003, in the event that the official average inflation rate is exceeded. Furthermore, a total increase of around 5.8% will be paid in two instalments in 2003, 3% during the first half of the year and 2.8% during the second. For 2004, basic wages will increase from 1 January 2004 by the percentage increase laid down in the 2004 EGSSE (plus any indexation), with an additional exceptional increase of 3.5% due to the Olympic Games, to be paid in one instalment on 1 January 2004.

Besides the increases in basic wages, a range of benefits will also be paid, including: a general allowance for security personnel; an allowance for cash-in-transit escorts; an allowance for carrying a weapon; an allowance for guarding radiation-emitting antennae; allowances for graduates of tertiary education institutions and technical educational institutes; and an allowance for increased risks for personnel working at Athens international airport.

On non-pay issues, the agreements most important provisions include:

• an increase to five in the number of three-year periods of service which are used for calculating benefits for security personnel and cash-in-transit escorts (this new period covers 15 to 18 years of service), to be included in the wage scale via a 10% increase calculated on the basis of the minimum wage rate; and
• a call for the creation of a 'rapid-learning' training institute for security personnel, with financing from the public Labour Force Employment Organisation (OAED) (GR0110106F). The new body would have a tripartite management structure and its objective would be to award a certified diploma to workers in the sector. The diploma would be linked to a special 'occupation-based' leave scheme for security and cash-in-transit personnel (introduced in application of Law 2518/1997).

The signatories of the new agreement consider that its implementation by all the companies in the sector without exception will be of great importance in putting a stop to unfair competition, evasion of payment of social security contributions, tax evasion and non-payment of workers’ legal remuneration. For this reason, in article 4, paragraph 2 of the agreement, the parties urgently request the competent state bodies to carry out constant and extensive monitoring of the full implementation of the agreement. They also authorise representatives of OIYE and ENEA to address themselves directly to the Labour Inspectorate (GR0102100F) and the Social Insurance Foundation's monitoring inspectors, requesting them to carry out intensive monitoring in all enterprises providing security services and security systems.

In this article we see that the Greeks have chosen a Keynesian approach to resolving their unemployment problems which is mainly hiring the excess labour to carry out public works for the Olympic Games. As a result an obvious commentary would be to discuss the pros and cons of such a policy. You could say for example that on the one hand unemployment is reduced but on the other either taxation would have to be increased or the government budget deficit will have to increase having adverse economi effects. An alternative suggestion could be discussing how this policy would encourage migration especially considering the fact that Greece belongs to the European Union's Common Market for labour. This would mean that immigrants not only from neighbouring countries but from all over Europe would be pushed to migrate to Greece and thus a good commentary would be to discuss the benefits and losses to the Greek community and the community of the neighbouring countries of this migration.