Hotel
workers in Athens are staging a 24-hour walkout demanding better pay, just nine
days before the start of the Olympic Games.
The
striking workers, including Greeks and foreign staff, say they earn an average
€500 (£330) per month, about the same as the daily rate charged by some of
Athens’s most expensive hotels.
They
want salaries doubled to what they say is the minimum wage of €1,100 (£726).
Hoteliers,
who have invested heavily in improving the infrastructure of hotels, have
slammed what they described as "blackmail" tactics.
The
strike was unnecessary because workers were given pay increases under an
industrial tribunal ruling in June, Athens hoteliers said in a statement.
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Employees
have not ruled out an escalation of strike action during the Olympics, which
run from 13 to 29 August.
