Ministers, social partners, discuss protection of staff in hospitality sectors
Covering unfilled positions in the hospitality sector, as well as working conditions and making a sectoral labour agreement mandatory for all employees in the sector, were topics discussed during an online meeting on Thursday between Labour and Social Affairs Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias and representatives of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE) and of the Hellenic Federation of Employees in Catering-Tourism.
The meeting agreed that tourism businesses must submit the available job positions to the Public Employment Service (DYPA) to cross-check against those registered as unemployed, while Hatzidakis warned that inspections with regard to working conditions will be strict, both to protect workers' rights and the image projected by the country abroad.
With respect to collective agreements, the minister said the government's intention was to make this mandatory, as was the case for hotel employees and he asked the social partners for their cooperation.
Tourism Minister Kikilias, on his part, stressed the importance of cooperation, noting that it had proved effective in dealing with the multiple crises experienced in recent years, while noting that the country's "ambassadors" in tourism were the workers.
