ATHENS — Vasia Veremi may only be 28, but as a hairdresser in Athens, she is keenly aware that, under a current law that treats her job as hazardous to her health, she has the right to retire with a full pension at age 50.
“I use a hundred different chemicals every day — dyes, ammonia, you name it,” she said. “You think there’s no risk in that?”
“People should be able to retire at a decent age,” Ms. Veremi added. “We are not made to live 150 years.”
Perhaps not, but that still makes it difficult to explain to outsiders why the Greek government has identified at least 580 job categories that are deemed to be hazardous enough to merit retiring early — at age 50 for women and 55 for men.
The law includes some predictably dangerous jobs like coal mining and bomb disposal. But it also covers positions like radio and television presenters who are thought to be at risk from the bacteria on their microphones and musicians playing wind instruments who must contend with gastric reflux as they puff and blow.
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‘We are used to our entitlements and won’t give them up.’
Good luck with that one.
When the piggy bank is empty the entitlements are just a piece of paper and broken promises that are just impossible to honour.
It’s not just the Greeks. My wife has relatives in Europe and anyone who is the slightest bit ambitious moves to North America where initiative is still somewhat rewarded.