Abolition of holiday bonuses to civil servants ‘constitutional,’ Council of State rules

The plenary session of the Council of State has ruled that the abolition of holiday bonuses to Greece’s civil servants at the peak of the country’s financial crisis was in line with the constitution, given the state of the country’s economy and the need to curtail spending.

Judges at the country’s highest administrative court ruled that the decision to abolish the so-called 13th and 14th salaries was made “with full knowledge of the average living standards of the country’s population and specifically of the living standards of civil servants.”

It added that the wages of public sector workers, even after the cuts, “secured a dignified living standard.”

The ruling, which reverses a previous decision by the same court, is final.