Greek government holds off changes on strike legislation 


The Greek government has withdrawn proposals for new legislation on strikes, fearing a hostile reaction from its MPs. 


Greece is set to leave the European bailout programme on time in August 2018, three years after the most recent support package was agreed with European institutions. 


Under the terms of the programme, Greece is committed to introducing a number of structural changes, including one on the Greek law on strikes. 


Although a group of international independent experts accepted that there was no need for stricter rules on strikes, the government has agreed to increase the threshold for calling a strike from the current one third of union members to 50% plus one. This was included in a package of measures presented to parliament in December but was later withdrawn. 


However, it’s expected that it or a similar measure will be reintroduced later this month.