ATHENS, Greece (PNN) - September 4, 2012 - Greece’s euro zone creditors are demanding that the government in Athens introduce a six-day working week as part of the stiff terms for the country's second bailout.

The demand is contained in a leaked letter from the "troika" of the country's lenders, the European commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund. In the letter, officials policing Greece's compliance with the austerity package imposed in return for the bailout insist on radical labor market reforms, from minimum wages to overtime limits to flexible working hours, which are likely to worsen the standoff between the government and organized labor in Greece.

After a long delay caused by months of political paralysis in Greece, the troika inspectors return to Athens this week to scrutinize Greek observance of its bailout terms. They are expected to deliver a verdict next month that will determine whether Greece is ultimately allowed to remain in the single currency.

The letter, sent last week to the Greek finance and labor ministries, orders the government to extend the working week into the weekend.

The instructions focus on labor market reforms, calling for the national labor inspectorate to be radically reformed and put under European dictatorial supervision.

The letter reveals the detail of euro zone intrusion into a national system and culture of work widely seen outside Greece as dysfunctional.

There should be a permanent "single-rate statutory minimum wage", seen as an incentive for getting people back to work in a country where unemployment has soared to over 24%.

The letter also calls for non-wage labor costs to be lowered, employers' welfare contributions to be cut, and deregulation of the labor market.

There is growing conviction in Berlin and Brussels that the government of Antonis Samaras in Athens has fallen well behind in the economic and fiscal reform programs imposed on it in return for two bailouts in the past two years.

The Greek government is struggling to come up with persuasive policies to enact spending cuts of a further 11.6 billion euros, which were to have been implemented in June, to secure the next bailout tranche of more than 30 billion euros due next month.

Samaras is pleading for more time - four years rather than two - to fulfill debt reduction targets and spending cuts.

Extending the deadlines would effectively require more euro zone help and a third bailout. There is little appetite for more rescue funds across the euro zone, meaning Greece may ultimately be sacrificed.

Although statements on Greece in Berlin, Paris and Brussels have been more upbeat over the past fortnight, there is strong speculation in Berlin and Brussels that Greece may have to exit the euro, but not until after the Fascist Police States of Amerika elections in November.