The Member of Parliament for Kozani and SYRIZAPS Tourism Spokesperson, Ms. Kalliopi Vetta, together with eleven other SYRIZAPS MPs, denounces what she describes as unacceptable and criminal inaction by the New Democracy government regarding the payment of the seasonal unemployment benefit. In a parliamentary question addressed to the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ms. Niki Kerameus, they stress that thousands of seasonal workers have been left without any income, even during the holidays, facing absolute insecurity and financial hardship.
As Ms. Vetta points out, the amounts provided for have either not been credited to the beneficiaries bank accounts or remain uncollected, as workers have not received their prepaid cards.
The distribution of prepaid cards through ELTA has completely collapsed due to downsizing and understaffing, and workers are being exhausted and shuffled between post offices and courier companies without answers, without any official information, andmost importantlywithout the money they are entitled to.
The MP calls on the political leadership of the Ministry to stop hiding behind excuses and to proceed IMMEDIATELY with the payment of the seasonal unemployment benefit, taking full responsibility for yet another administrative failure that gravely offends human dignity.
As the SYRIZAPS MP underlines, while workers struggle to survive, the New Democracy government chooses, instead of resolving the problem it created, to once again resort to familiar communication tactics, feigning ignorance and shifting responsibility elsewhere. However, reality cannot be concealed: responsibility lies exclusively with the government and will be fully attributed to it.
Read the parliamentary question:
With a legislative provision brought to Parliament in 2023 by the New Democracy government, it was decided that unemployment benefits would be paid via prepaid cards, under the pretext of combating tax evasion.
However, in practice, the implementation of this measuredue to the complete administrative disintegration brought about by the much-vaunted executive statehas led to an unprecedented failure with a heavy social impact.
Although, according to official information from DYPA, the amounts of the seasonal unemployment benefit have been credited to approximately 163,000 beneficiaries, reality is relentless. The vast majority of seasonal workers, and especially those in tourism and food services, remain without any payment, as either the amounts do not appear in beneficiaries accounts or beneficiaries are unable to collect the money because they have not yet received their prepaid cards.
The distribution of cards through ELTA has fully collapsed due to downsizing and understaffing, and the process has been assigned to private courier companies. As a result, workers are being exhausted and shuttled between post offices and courier companies without result, while at the same time there is no official information, no timetable for resolving the problem, and no assumption of responsibility by the competent bodies.
The Panhellenic Federation of Workers in Catering and Tourism (POEET) has expressed its indignation, accusing the New Democracy government of insensitivity, and characterizes as cynical DYPAs response that up to 45 days are required to cross-check beneficiaries datagiven that these are repeat beneficiaries, fully registered in the relevant records, who depend exclusively on the unemployment benefit for their survival.
At the same time, the Ministry of Labour, having rejected two relevant amendments submitted by SYRIZAPS, has not to date responded as to whether it intends to extend the duration of unemployment benefit payments, leaving seasonal workers in complete uncertainty.
Given that the New Democracy government bears full responsibility for the design and implementation of the measure,
Given that this delay is not a technical problem but a deliberate choice,
Given that the result of this situation is that thousands of workers are spending yet another holiday season without any income, intensifying their financial suffocation and leading to mass exits from the sector,
Given that the Ministry of Labour systematically avoids answering whether it intends to increase or even secure the duration of unemployment benefits, exacerbating insecurity and pushing workers to abandon the sector,
The competent Minister is asked:
Why, while DYPA claims that the benefits have been credited, do thousands of beneficiaries remain unpaid?
Who bears responsibility for the delays in the appearance of the amounts in banking institutions?
Why has the timely and reliable distribution of prepaid cards to beneficiaries not been ensured?
What immediate measures does the Ministry intend to take so that the amounts owed are paid without further delay?
Does the Ministry intend to extend the duration of unemployment benefits for seasonal workers?
How does the government intend to remedy the financial damage and social insecurity caused to thousands of families?
The Members of Parliament submitting the question:
Kalliopi Vetta
Giorgos Gavrilos
Eirini Dourou
Miltos Zampares
Haris Mamoulakis
Kostas Barkas
Aikaterini Notopoulou
Theofilos Xanthopoulos
Andreas Panagiotopoulos
Giorgos Papailiou
Popi Tsapanidou
Giorgos Psychogios
