Greece reached a deal with its European creditors Monday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras conceding to a further swathe of austerity measures and economic reforms and even reversing some of the measures his government has taken this year.
The final Euro Summit statement confirms that “with the exception of the humanitarian crisis bill, the Greek government will reexamine with a view to amending legislations that were introduced counter to the February 20 agreement by backtracking on previous programme commitments or identify clear compensatory equivalents for the vested rights that were subsequently created.”
Prime Minister Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza-led administration would now have to reverse any laws they pushed through that ran counter to what was agreed with the eurozone in February.
That means that thousands of public sector workers, including cleaning ladies, who were famously rehired after protesting their dismissals, will most probably be laid off again.
Early in May Syriza MPs passed a law to give back jobs to some 9,000 workers including school guards, cleaning ladies and civil servants who lost their jobs or were earmarked for dismissal under severe austerity cuts.
The decision of the Greek parliament to adopt a bill that unwinded recent austerity measures - combined with the reopening of the public broadcaster ERT - faced criticism from the country's international creditors who have demanded cuts in spending, including plans to trim the civil service and privatization of state assets, in order for Greece to continue receiving loans.