Brussels, 27 February 2015
(ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has strongly criticised the negative attitude the
International Monetary Fund has taken towards the agreement reached on 24
February between Eurozone finance ministers and the Greek government for a
four-month extension of the current European crisis loan to Greece.
A written statement from
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2015/pr1571.htm
) condemned the agreement because it does not contain “clear assurances” from
the Greek government that it will implement measures committed to by the former
government defeated in January elections, including in the area of labour
market reforms.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General
Secretary, said “Five years of austerity and deregulation imposed by the IMF
and the other Troika members have brought economic depression, greater
inequality and 25 per cent unemployment. To insist that the new government in
Greece must do more of the same borders on irrationality”.
Burrow noted that the
labour market reforms referred to in the IMF’s statement include new
restrictions on the right to strike and other trade union activities, and the
elimination of advance notice in case of mass dismissals: “Making jobs even more
precarious and weakening workers’ rights will only contribute to further
decline of workers’ living standards and more inequality. It makes no sense for
the IMF to push this agenda when Greek voters clearly expressed their desire
for change and when Eurozone finance ministers agreed with the new government’s
intention to make a priority of attacking corruption and tax evasion.”
The ITUC is also deeply
concerned that the IMF’s condemnation of the Greece-Eurozone accord is being
seized upon by right-wing and even anti-EU political groupings to try to block
the accord in some national parliaments that must ratify it. “The IMF is
playing a dangerous political game by pandering to political forces that are
more interested in making ideological points, even at the cost of setting off a
new Eurozone crisis, than in helping an EU member country that has lost 26 per
cent of its GDP since 2008 get onto the path to economic recovery,” said
Burrow.
Observing that the loan
extension was a compromise arrived at after weeks of difficult negotiations
between Greece and the Eurozone, Burrow called on the IMF to support both the
extension agreement and a longer-term accord that will address the fundamental
obstacles to the recovery of growth and jobs in Greece.
The ITUC represents 176
million workers in 162 countries and territories and has 328 national
affiliates.
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