Trade union

The coalition would adjust the pay system to the specifics of individual professions and peg performance bonuses to efficiency based on a set of indicators for individual professions, according to information obtained by the STA.

In recent years, income policy has allowed an increase in the average wage in Bulgaria with rates close to 10 percent, and this is one of the highest levels in the EU.

The Administrative Reconstruction Ministry launched on Monday the evaluation of its public sector employees for 2017, which will be conducted electronically for the first time, in an effort to avoid attempts by unions to boycott the process.

Greece is required by the terms of its bailout program to implement the evaluation scheme for civil servants.

A man walks along an Athens street where billboards advertise a 24-hour strike on Wednesday called by labor unions to protest austerity. The action will affect public transport and services. [Giorgos Kontarinis/ Eurokinissi] 

The operating firm of the Athens metro, STASY, said Tuesday that Monday's 24-hour strike by the metro workers union SELMA, which saw the cancellation of services on lines 2 and 3, was unjustified.

STASY said that participation in the strike by SELMA - one of nine workers unions active in the rail sector - was limited.

There will be no services on lines 2 and 3 of the Athens metro on Monday due to a 24-hour strike called by the metro workers' union (SELMA).

The strike was called by the union to protest shortages in both staff and equipment, as well as what it described as the management's dubious ties with the government.

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. 

The presences of Minister of Labor Zoran Djordjevic speaks to that, the opposition party announced on Wednesday.

In addition, they point out that the participation of Djordjevic was "a vulgar and open insult to the dissatisfied workers."

While the unionization rate remains very low in Turkey, awareness of labor rights has increased over the past 15 years, according to Professor Cem Kılıç, an expert in industrial relations. 

Thousands of passengers at four German airports, including the biggest hub Frankfurt, were stranded on Tuesday as ground staff and other public sector workers staged walkouts across the country to increase the pressure in a pay dispute.