Preparing for the advent of foreign workers

Before 2023 expired, an international cruise company with significant activity in Greece received an unexpected request: Would be interested in chartering for at least 18 months to a Greek supply chain company one of its ships to accommodate 800 foreign workers slated for employment in the construction of a new logistics center in Aspropyrgos, West Attica? And how much would that cost? Another shipping company with passenger ships that have the possibility of accommodating employees received a similar overture. In both cases the requests came from companies that have a significant investment plan in construction and are about to host Indian workers.

The shipping companies considered there is not a sufficient framework for the introduction of workers. And yet the framework was passed a few weeks ago in the amendment to the draft law of the Labor and Social Security Ministry, titled “Reform of occupational insurance, rationalization of insurance legislation, pension arrangements, system of appointment and recruitment of teachers of the public employment service and other provisions,” which concerns the regulation of matters in the competence of the Migration Ministry.

Labor Minister Adonis Georgiadis has told Kathimerini that the first three interstate agreements are expected to be signed by the end of March, allowing the import of workers from the contracting countries in order to meet the labor needs in key sectors for the growth of the Greek economy such as construction, tourism but also in retail trade and elsewhere.

Three more interstate agreements will follow, while as is known in the labor market, the interstate agreement for the import of workers from Egypt already exists and has been activated.

The first three agreements will be signed, according to the same sources, with Georgia, Moldova and India. They will be followed, within the first half of the year, by another three interstate agreements with Vietnam, the Philippines and Armenia. 

Of those agreements, the one with India dominates due to the size of the country. The issue had been under discussion since the end of August during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Athens and his meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Greece-India relations have since been upgraded to a “Strategic Partnership.”