Olga Gerovasili

The umbrella union for Greek civil servants, ADEDY, on Monday renewed its efforts to thwart an ill-fated initiative to evaluate public sector workers, calling on employees and managers to boycott the process, while joining forces with the private sector union GSEE to call a general strike for May 30 to protest austerity. 

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has vowed to digitally reform and transform the Greek state when he comes to power.

The leftist-led coalition on Wednesday passed into law a reform that effectively helps state workers on short-term contracts to secure long-term employment amid accusations from the opposition of favoring their political supporters. 

Government applications and information systems are being moved to virtual servers, the Government Cloud (G-Cloud), in a bid to modernize Greece's public administration.

The state has already moved 12 of its information systems to the G-Cloud and there are plans to transfer another 60 soon.

In a strong confirmation of failed efforts to overhaul Greece's oversized and dysfunctional state sector, only a tiny fragment of government agencies have so far submitted information about their structure and staffing, Kathimerini understands. 

The clock is ticking for the government, with just 11 working days before the December 4 Eurogroup, but its progress regarding the bailout review milestones is not at all encouraging so far.

A proposal drawn up by the Law Preparing Committee on the institutional framework for independent regulators should be completed by the end of the month.

The POE-OTA union representing local authority workers is to stage a demonstration on Friday morning outside the capital's main court complex in solidarity with 35 of its members who are to face trial for their part in an anti-austerity protest in 2011.

A day after the Canadian mining firm Eldorado Gold threatened to suspend its operations in Greece, the head of its Greek subsidiary Hellas Gold, Dimitris Dimitriadis, told Skai that the company's local activities are fully licensed and said no ultimatum has been issued. 

Although this week is expected to be a quiet one for the government in view of the August 15 public holiday, the respite will be brief, with plans to pass legislation later this week regarding an assessment scheme for civil servants.