ATHENS — Addressing his party's Political Council, main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday called the government's draft bill on labor legislation "the payment of a promissory note to big interests" and to the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), according to party sources.

"Despite the fact that we are at the peak of the pandemic, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has decided to pay this promissory note, ignoring the major social tension he knows this will cause. He is legislating at SEV's command and has decided to declare war on the forces of labor," Tsipras said.

He accused the government of "abolishing the eight-hour day, shrinking wages and eliminating all control of illegality and employer arbitrariness," and said that SYRIZA had "rightly described its opposition to a plan that destroys working people the 'battle of all battles', given that it reveals who is with whom and what interests they serve".

Tsipras also announced that all of SYRIZA's forces will work over the next period for the creation of the new major labor and social movement to overturn the government's plans.