FinMin Custodians Not Rehired Yet

The polarizing saga of the Finance ministry cleaning staff underwent yet another twist. The staff had won their rehiring in the Supreme Court a few weeks ago, but the Finance ministry had appealed almost immediately. Today, the Supreme Court reversed its decision and ruled that the staff is not to be rehired until their case against the regional court's decision is tried in late September.

In the days leading to the ruling, the ministry side claimed that the previous ruling came from the court without the proper jurisdiction. Their claim was that the case should have been tried by an administrative court. Finally, the ministry side said that the abolition of the custodial positions was done for reasons of high public interest.

Given that the custodial services have been assigned by the ministry to outside crews, the ministry side also claimed that should the cleaning ladies be rehired, the state will be burdened by both those wages and the 209,000 euros for the services of the fired cleaning staff.

Today's ruling is just the latest installment of an ongoing dispute which has polarized the public opinion and is a continuous embarrassment for the coalition government. The more the Finance ministry is pursuing the case, the more the government looks like an inhumane body going after some poor middle aged ladies who only want their jobs back.