Getting a job in Greece is difficult enough for Greek job seekers with the predominance of cronyism, low salaries and suitable vacancies. Do those with non-Greek surnames also face discrimination as early as the CV?

Ethnic discrimination is common worldwide. The International Labor Office found it in Germany and Italy. It exists in countries considered progressive and gender balanced, such as Sweden where those who were older, unemployed or had a non-Nordic name received less contact; the UK, where racial prejudice in housing and the labour market was found as early as 1967; and the USA, where candidates with “black” sounding names and other minorities were eliminated from contention during résumé screening.

In a country where native Greek citizens are favored over repatriated Greek citizens from abroad, and xenophobia is on the rise, is it so hard to believe that ethnic discrimination exists here as well?

An onoma by any other

The only study on ethnic discrimination in the Greek labor market was done in 2006-2007 by Minas Vlassis and Nikos Drydakis, professors from the Department of Economics at the University of Crete.

In “Ethnic Discrimination in the Greek Labour Market: Occupational Access, Insurance Coverage, and Wage Offers,” CVs with equal education and experience, using addresses from comparable neighborhoods in Athens and similar hobbies and personal characteristics, were sent to the same firms at the same time. To homogenize characteristics by phone, a native Greek was used to answer calls for interviews and questions in both cases. The only difference was one candidate was named Ioannis Christou and the other Nikolai Dridanski.

Their findings revealed that Albanians face 43.5% net discrimination in access to employment, 36.5% lesser chance of being given IKA and a potential wage of 8.8% lower than Greeks, which is 5.3% below the legal minimum wage. When questioned directly, 84.4 percent of employers “put the blame” on profit strategies.

This corroborates a poll in which 88 percent of Greeks said they do not have a problem with immigrants in theory, but the same percentage believe they don’t deserve to be issued a work permit. In other words: “I don’t mind if you clean my house, landscape my yard, build my house and boost the economy, but forget about getting a fair wage and having rights.”

It also explains in part why only half of an estimated 1.2 million immigrants in Greece are legal, even though 70 percent have been here for five to eight years and are entitled to long-term EU-wide residence/work permits. Continuous insurance coverage is required to secure a permit and, of those who managed to apply and pay 150 euros each last year, 300,000 are waiting in a seemingly eternal “pending” file, with thousands being encouraged to apply even though municipal employees know they are ineligible. Greece gets to keep their money no matter what. That’s more than 45 million euros in cash for those keeping track, and the funds are not being used by immigrants as few rarely utilize public services, according to the National Statistic Service (NSS).

Certainly, migrant joblessness is low in comparison to unemployment amongst Greek citizens, but this is because immigrants do not live in a family home and cannot afford to be selective when and if a job is offered.

Important note

Please be clear. Greek employers that discriminate on first sight of names on a CV not only affects immigrants looking a job, but also those of Greek origin who do not use their Greek surname for reasons of marriage or personal choice.

Further, it is usually an indication of more discrimination to come.

* A future post will be a personal experience with discrimination based solely on my CV, an inadvertent experiment from 2003, and linked accordingly.

For related stories, see Jobs in Greece.

Special acknowledgment

Hat tip to MBE at the Mediterranean Migration Observatory for providing direction to two sources and sharing a personal account.

Related Sources

“Native-Immigrants Wage Differentials and Occupational Segregation in the Greek Labour Market” - Michalis Demousis, Nicholas Giannakopoulos and Stavros Zografakis

Immigrants, Migration and Discrimination (Greece)” — Migration Citizenship Education

“Migrant Integration Policy Index (Greece)” — Sponsored by the EU, British Council

“Ethnic Discrimination in the Greek Rental Market” — Nick Drydakis (related Athens News article)

“2007: Year of Immigration Reform” — Athens News

One of the things that struck me 10 years ago about English language newspapers and magazines in Greece was how racist they were.

Not content to sit idly by, I edited a copy of a certain newspaper, highlighted what was racist and sent it to the managing editor. He acknowledged the typos and poor grammar when we spoke in person, but nothing else.

In conversation with the head of another publication, who is a trained professional from abroad, it felt like we were standing on a slippery slope and the subject was dropped.

Are there rules?

The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook is considered the “gold standard of news writing,” a bible by which many professional journalists and editors live and work. Inside are more than 3,000 style rules and explanations on capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, word and numeral usage, abbreviations, business and sports guidelines and media law. Rules are updated to change with the times.

Many publications have their own style guidelines based loosely on the AP or Chicago Manual of Style, but the media code of ethics is the same.

On race

The following stance on race is explained.

“Identification of race is pertinent:

– In biographical and announcement stories, particularly when they involve a feat or appointment that has not routinely been associated with members of a particular race.
– When it provides the reader with substantial insight into conflicting emotions known or likely to be involved in a demonstration or similar event.

In some stories that involve a conflict, it is equally important to specify that an issue cuts across racial lines. If, for example, a demonstration for supporters of busing to achieve racial balance in schools includes a substantial number of whites, that fact should be noted.

Do not use racially derogatory terms unless they are part of a quotation that is essential to the story.”

This style rule exists because going against it has the power to influence and bias readers en masse. It contributes to hostility and false beliefs about certain nationalities that cannot be undone once a seed has been planted and taken root, even with hard statistics as evidence.

In Greek media

To illustrate how Greek media is less racist now, three sets of examples will be presented to show the progression. They represent a small sampling of what Greek media presents and by no means is limited to English language publications, as a great number of cases can be found in all mediums (TV, print, radio, online) in every language.

Three months ago:

A growing population of people inside and outside Greece believe that foreigners are to blame for the majority of crime, drugs and violent death, and the media play a big part. They choose which stories to report and how to present them.

#1: Fatal stabbing
A 42-year-old Greek man was fatally stabbed yesterday after trying to resolve a dispute between two men over a Moldovan woman, police in Athens said. The Greek man intervened after seeing the men, a Pole and an Albanian, arguing in the street in the district of Aghios Panteleimonas, but was allegedly knifed in the chest by the Albanian national, who subsequently fled on foot. The unnamed 42-year-old was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

#2: Officers overpower suspects in Athens bar
Police have arrested two Albanian men, wanted for 13 armed robberies in the last few months, during a random check of an Athens nightspot, authorities said yesterday.

Police said the two suspects, armed with fully loaded handguns, fought with police in a bid to evade arrest but were eventually detained. The men, aged 23 and 26, are believed to have been part of a six-member gang that held up banks and companies in Patras in the Peloponnese and the greater Athens area.

They are also suspected of stealing dozens of cars for their armed heists by forcing the owners out of the vehicles as they pulled up at a kiosk or traffic lights. Police have launched a manhunt for the remaining gang members, including a 28-year-old man who escaped from a prison in Larissa, central Greece.

#3: Hash haul
Police in northern Greece yesterday confiscated more than 45 kilos of cannabis after spotting five Albanians cross the border with several bags. One of the Albanians was caught but the other four crossed back into Albania, eluding arrest. Separately, officers in the area of Sitaria, Ioannina, arrested a local resident believed to have been cultivating cannabis. Officers uprooted more than 12 cannabis plants from his garden.

Whenever a nationality or race isn’t given, it is assumed the person in question is Greek. In other countries, this same assumption isn’t possible because all people appear generically as “42-year-old man” or “woman” unless meeting one of the style rules given above. An example of a story that would call for nationalities to be named is, “Israeli attacked in Greece” because it was racially motivated.

Half and half:

This is a case of half disclosure — nationalities of the victims were disclosed, but not those of the 13 indicted for murder. Why? Draw your own conclusions.

Fatal brawl
A Thessaloniki court yesterday indicted 13 people, including five minors, in connection with the brutal killing of two teenagers at a basketball court near the northern city’s railway station last May. The charges faced include murder, illegal weapon possession and causing grievous bodily harm. A 17-year-old Georgian and an 18-year-old Albanian died in a brawl involving dozens of youths. The fracas began after an argument over possession of the ball during a game of basketball and escalated as youths drew knives, crowbars and other weapons, according to police.

Today:

About a month ago, I noticed a distinct difference in the way these briefs were written. It initially happened over the weekend and reverted back Monday through Friday, but the change has been consistent of late.

This is the correct way to present media, though I suspect the damage is done and a majority of readers make assumptions and unconsciously insert nationalities in their heads.

#1: Robber confronted
A 27-year-old homeowner and a 53-year-old alleged thief were yesterday being treated in a hospital in Katerini, northern Greece, after falling from a first-floor balcony. The younger man allegedly confronted the would-be thief in his home and began fighting with him, which led to both men falling and being taken to the hospital. No details of their injuries were made public. Police said that the 56-year-old was being kept under police guard at the hospital in Katerini.

#2: Drug overdose
A 42-year-old man has been found dead in Xanthi, northeastern Greece, from a suspected drug overdose. His body was found at the side of a road by a passer-by. A used needle was found next to his body. The man was not named.

#3: Heroin haul
Police arrested three men, aged between 42 to 51, in Thessaloniki yesterday, accused of selling drugs after police found in their possession two kilos of heroin. Officers came across the drugs when one of the suspects attempted to sell to an undercover officer 3.7 grams of heroin for 200 euros. A search of one of the suspect’s homes uncovered the narcotics hidden in an outdoor area and lead to the arrests of the other two men. Police said there was an outstanding arrest warrant for one of the suspects, aged 42, for drug trade.

Style of this site

I consciously differentiate between native Greeks, repatriated Greeks, EU citizens and non-EU citizens because this country assigns hierarchy in that order. That’s reality, courtesy of Greece. Don’t like it? Me either.

I also refer to people as Greek or not in some posts to dispel assumptions that mistreatment or unfair bias has been at the hands of non-Greeks, and “victims” are only foreigners, immigrants or expats. That’s untrue.

This country works in mysterious ways, and discrimination and unfair practices occur across the board regardless of nationality.

Related posts

“Gutter press flourishes” - Kathimerini

“Greece accused of suppressing freedoms” - Athens News

or other posts under ”Discrimination“ 

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Letter from fromoldbooks.org

The other night, my fiancé and I were talking about how something 10 years ago in Greece is no different today and likely won’t be in the future. This same topic came up yesterday morning with a friend visiting from Canada, who remarked that she sees virtually no change from her last visit several years ago and expects her next visit to be exactly the same. Things don’t change.

Later, Vassili and I were talking about how on one hand, there is a lot of goodwill here — people accepting a lesser salary or doing something for free with the belief that if a few people work together, it will benefit everyone. But on the other hand, there are too many ready to take advantage and exploit that goodwill.

With these discussions about change and goodwill fresh in my mind, it was easy to advise my fiancé to set some boundaries last night when a friend called for a favor.

His friend FG wanted him to come to the club and discuss something, so my fiancé blindly agreed without asking questions. I told him to call back and ask why he should spend time, toll and gas on something his friend doesn’t have the decency to disclose. Supposedly, it was a business arrangement that would benefit the both of them, and money couldn’t be discussed on the phone.

I’ve only known FG for a year, but I know enough to understand he’s cheap, full of bull and a terrible businessman. He wants to charge 5 euros for a tiny bowl of peanuts and 50 euros for a bottle of wine, as if his tiny nightclub is a huge venue on Posidonos, yet the tables are so close together that it’s more like a bouzoukia club in Psyrri but without food, service or kefi. He won’t spend money on promotion and only wants to pay 25 euros and no IKA for a girl to serve coffee 8 hours a day. Surprisingly, business is slow.

I told my fiancé to not go or, if he goes, don’t agree to anything less than X amount. He was hopeful, but there’s a fine line between hope and denial, so away he went to waste 2 hours of his life to learn FG wanted him to work three nights a week for nearly no money and no promotion. It’s like I said at the beginning, things don’t change. You can only change yourself.

And as if my fiancé hadn’t taken enough lumps for the evening, he was mistaken for being a homeless person at McDonald’s.

A well-meaning man thought my fiancé was only making up the story about forgetting his wallet in his good work pants to save face at the cashier (even though it was true), so he insisted several times on paying for my fiancé’s food because he “must be hungry.” My fiancé thanked him for his goodwill, didn’t accept, got in his car and came home.

Who knew simply being unshaven and wearing ripped jeans reclassified someone as homeless? Damn northern suburbs!

Related posts

“Taste of America in Greece“
“Just another day in Hellas“
“One step closer to vegetarianism“

Ombudsman is one of those words I first heard at university, but never explored though I might have if I had a bad experience. It is important to know that you have an ombudsman here in Greece should you need him.

An ombudsman is an independent government official appointed to:

- Receive and investigate complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of public officials;
- Report findings;
- Help achieve equitable settlements through a non-judicial process.

More than 10,000 complaints are filed per year in this country, with that number set to rise in direct proportion to public awareness. Polls show that less than half of Greeks know about him, most of them university graduates living in Athens, and less than 50 percent of those who know say they “trust” him.

Statistics show that 2 in 5 cases are solved in favor of the complainant, only 5 percent are rejected outright and the remainder are forwarded to the relevant government body for further review. If you have ever been through the justice system of Greece, where cases require money and several years to be heard, the ombudsman is an attractive and free alternative.

Who can file a complaint?

- Greek citizens
- EU citizens residing in Greece
- Non-EU citizens residing in Greece
- Political refugees
* Tourists should contact the Tourist Police 24 hours a day by dialing ‘171.’ They speak English, French, German and, of course, Greek; Mr. Aris was particularly helpful when I first arrived.

What kind of complaints does the Ombudsman address?
- Inefficiencies, dishonesty and maladministration regarding bureaucracy in municipalities, social insurance and pension fund offices;
- Discrimination where benefits, jobs, rentals, grants/aid are denied on the basis of citizenship or ethnic origin (i.e. “only Greek citizens, no foreigners”);
- Suspected human rights violations against non-EU citizens;
- Maltreatment at state hospitals;
- Questionable practices by the urban planning board;
- Unreasonable delays by translators at the Foreign Ministry;
- Delays by the eforia (tax office) that then incur penalties (i.e. sending an audit letter after the deadline);
- Discrimination according to gender or age;
- Abuses by police (i.e. refusing to take a police report, physical harm);
- Nearly anything having to do with a public office or official.

How long do I have to file a complaint?
- Six (6) months from the date in which the event occurred.

Where do I go?

George Kaminis, Ombudsman
5 Hatziyianni-Mexis Street
(near the Hilton Hotel)
(210) 728-9600 or 801 112 5000
Open: 8:30-14:00

www.synigoros.gr (in English)

Related posts

“Solvit: How to file a complaint about Greece with the EU“
“European ombudsman: Complaints about the EU“

In the news

“Ombudsman reports more malaise” - Athens News

After more than a year of shuffling blame and dragging feet, a classmate of 11-year-old Alex Meshivili finally confessed under order that he and his friends pushed Alex down, causing him to hit his head on a marble step. They hid his body, then told their parents, who helped move his body to another location a few days later.

So much is wrong with this investigation, it’s hard to know where to start. Some words that immediately come to mind: discrimination (Alex is not Greek), corruption, shame. (Update)

Alex’s mother has been painstakingly waiting to learn her son’s whereabouts, with each day longer than the next. This may not have been the news she wanted to hear, but perhaps now she can stop wandering in the unknown and start walking a path toward grieving and healing.