The jobs performed by state hospital nursing staff, ambulance drivers and crews will be formally designated as hazardous, the government pledged Tuesday, which will provide workers with pension and income benefits.
Labor and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus also said she would unveil new draft legislation next week to ensure men and women receive equal pay for performing similar jobs.
Kerameus said upgrading the designation of nurses’ and ambulance crews’ jobs to “heavy and unhealthy” would “provide support to a professional group whose job is, objectively speaking, very hard.”
“It is out duty to stand by them,” she said in an interview with private Open TV.
The conservative government had promised last year to designate the nursing profession as hazardous – which ensures early retirement and other benefits – from January 1, but this failed to materialize.
