It was Labor Minister Efi Ahtsioglou's turn over the weekend to express the leftist Greek government's steadfastness in the face of possible new and "unreasonable demands" by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying Athens will not accept labor sector liberalization outside the European norm.
Ahtsioglou, who took over the ministry's portfolio during a recent Cabinet reshuffle and after serving as an aide to the former minister, was also quoted by the weekly "RealNews" as saying the Tsipras government will not accept austerity measures beyond 2018, when the current (third) bailout program expires.
She again cited the two main points of objection between the mostly leftist Greek government and the IMF, namely, a lifting of restrictions on mass layoffs -- as the Fund has demanded -- as the restoration of mandatory collective bargaining negotiations between unions and employers' groups, something the IMF opposes the former desperately wants to present to its constituents as a success.
