- A new National Sectoral Collective Labor Agreement is being signed for hotel employees.
- Salaries are expected to rise by 30% by 2026 compared to 2019.
- Hotel workers’ wages in 2024 ranked third highest among all Greek industries.
- The hospitality industry is confronting outdated stereotypes about working conditions.
The Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) and the Panhellenic Federation of Employees in Catering and Tourism (POEET) are formalizing a significant agreement. As POX President Yiannis Chatzis announced during their 5th Regional Conference in Corinth, the new National Sectoral Collective Labor Agreement promises pivotal pay enhancements for hotel employees.
The previous labour agreement, effective until December 31, 2024, introduced an initial 5.5% pay raise in 2023, followed by an additional 5% in 2024. With the freshly inked terms, hotel workers can anticipate further incremental growth, leading to that eye-catching 30% increase by 2026.
Workers in the hotel industry earned the third-highest wages among all sectors of the Greek economy in 2024. Despite misconceptions, these numbers paint a picture of respectably improving employment conditions within the industry.
“I hear it all the time—’Hotel employers aren’t good to their staff.’ Total nonsense,” Chatzis remarked. Citing the enduring strength of the sector’s collective labour agreements, some of which have remained active for over half a century, he addressed criticisms bluntly. If boosting salaries by 30% over seven years doesn’t reflect good employer practices, Chatzis challenges sceptics to name an industry that does better.
According to him, occasional and exaggerated bad press has tarnished the perceptions of Greek tourism employers. “When isolated incidents are magnified and turned into myths, it harms everyone—workers, businesses, and even our national economy.” Chatzis dismissed terms like “over-tourism” and “slave ships” as sensationalism, far removed from modern Greek tourism’s reality.
