Evangelos Venizelos

Six hundred university administrative staff who were suspended last year as part of a civil service mobility scheme are set to get their jobs back after an agreement between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partner Evangelos Venizelos late on Sunday resolved a dispute between two ministries over the number of employees who should be rehired.

Six hundred university administrative staff are set to get their jobs back after being fired last year as part of the government mobility’s scheme in the public sector. The decision was reached by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos late on Sunday.

 Junior coalition partner calls for better evaluation scheme before public sector workers are dismissed

Andreas Loverdos disagreed over how many university administrative employees should be rehired after being placed in a labor reserve last year, with the remainder being dismissed.

The coalition has bought itself a few more days to settle a dispute over how many of the university administrative staff it placed in a labor reserve last year it will rehire this month but there are growing differences within the government over how and if it should meet the public sector targets it has agreed with the troika.

Only a few days after it was sworn in, Greece’s new cabinet was embroiled in a tug of war on Thursday over how many university administrative employees who were placed in a labor pool last year could be rehired later this month.

Just a day after the new cabinet was sworn in, the first disagreement broke out between Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and newly appointed Education Minister Andreas Loverdos.

Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos has been given the all-clear by doctors to attend the swearing ceremony for the new Greek cabinet on Tuesday afternoon after being admitted to the hospital earlier the same day.

The head of Greece's co-ruling Socialist PASOK party, Evangelos Venizelos, was taken to hospital overnight complaining of stomach pain but is expected to be discharged on Tuesday, his doctor said.

Questions about Evangelos Venizelos’s leadership of PASOK continued to be asked by party members on Friday despite the foreign minister dismissing internal criticism a day earlier as the complaints of “fifth columnists.”

PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos hit back on Thursday at critics within his party who have suggested that there should be a leadership challenge, labeling them “fifth columnists.”