Extravagance Greek Style

Opa!

This is not austerity.

This is resetting things back to normal.

Greece is not the only country to extol such extravagance upon its public employees I'm sure. We hear stories and snippets in the news (as well as through friends and contacts in the public domain) similar to Greece every other day. I still reel in anger that public daycare workers get six weeks vacation in Quebec. I grind my teeth whenever I hear that. Never mind it's damn near impossible to fire bad educators. But hey. $7 a day! We're lucky!

Bah.

"...BBC reporting that Greek civil servants will no longer get a hardship bonus for using a computer, after the country's government rescinded a special privilege they have enjoyed for more than two decades--six extra days of paid holidays each year. The bonus provided an extra day off every two months, for those whose job involved sitting in front of a computer for more than five hours a day--basically most of the staff working in ministries and public services. It was known as a "computer leave" day. Doing away with this bonus holiday represents "a small, yet symbolic, step in modernizing public administration," Mr. Mitsotakis said in a statement. They suggested that the privilege which was introduced in 1989 The working hours saved by scrapping the computer leave would be the equivalent of an extra 5,000 employees... Then again if they are still using computers from 1989 ... Other perks that have already been scrapped include a bonus for showing up to work and passing on a dead father's pension to his unmarried daughters..."

Right. It's the 'rich' bankrupting Western coffers.