Despite growth and pay rises, Greek workers are among the poorest in Europe

Athens, Greece – When the conservative New Democracy party came to power in Greece in 2019, it promised a work-driven economy that would grow by 4 percent a year and elevate living standards after a decade of austerity.In an appeal to the productive, non-state economy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became prime minister, asking Greeks to “work together to build a new compact of trust based on meritocracy, industriousness, security, justice, opportunities for everyone”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Blood, Sweat and Sugarlist 2 of 4Photos: Afghan villagers turn to gold-panning to sustain livelihoodslist 3 of 4Soaring fuel prices in Pakistan threaten economic and political criseslist 4 of 4On May Day, Gaza’s workers find whatever source of income they canend of listFive years later, Greeks had the second-lowest annual salaries in the European Union after Bulgaria, according to Eurostat, the EU statistical agency.Every other Eastern European country that had become a free-market democracy in 1991 and an EU member in 2004, almost a quarter-century after Greece, has leapfrogged ahead of it.From 2019 to 2024, “Bulgaria rose 11 points whereas we rose 3 points,” said Yiorgos Christopoulos, spokesman for the General Confederation of Workers in Greece (GSEE), the country’s private sector umbrella