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The Committee notes the detailed report provided by the Government for the period ending in May 2009, including information on the initial measures adopted to overcome the impact of the global crisis on employment.

The Committee refers to its comments under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), with regard to the observations communicated by the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) with the support of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on the impact of the measures introduced in the framework of the mechanism to support the Greek economy as of May 2010. The Committee notes in particular, that according to the GSEE, the measures adopted in this framework did not constitute a topic of social dialogue but were forwarded to Parliament for adoption with urgent procedures.

The Committee recalls as a general matter, the role to be played by active labour market measures in addressing the human dimension of the financial and economic crisis. In the 2009 Global Jobs Pact, the ILO agreed to “put the aim of full and productive employment and decent work at the heart of the crisis responses”. In its concluding remarks of the 2010 General Survey on employment instruments, the Committee further emphasized that social dialogue is essential in normal times and becomes even more so in times of crisis (paragraph 794 of the 2010 General Survey).

Given the new measures that have been adopted since the Government’s last report on the application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to monitor carefully the impact of the policy pursued in the framework of the international support mechanism and to provide a detailed report on the application of the Convention when the report is next due in 2011. The Committee will examine the comments by the GSEE along with the Government’s reply thereto, as well as the Government’s report which is due in 2011, at its next session.