Prosecutor seeks probe into claims that striking transit workers received pay
Athens prosecutor Panagiota Fakou on Tuesday ordered an investigation into claims that many striking transit workers are not seeing their pay docked for days when they walked off the job.
The Development and Transport Ministry said that workers on the Athens metro, who entered their sixth consecutive strike day on Tuesday, claimed pay for days when they were not working. Specifically, it cited figures for Sunday’s strike, in which 1,030 of the 1,300 workers on the metro claimed it as a day off or sick day, and just 190 actually claimed to be on strike.
Development and Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis also presented figures showing that on January 17, when the metro workers were also on strike, only 33 percent of employees declared they were striking and had their salaries withheld, as labor regulations demand when there is a walkout.
The minister said that the following day, when other modes of transport were also on strike, 48 percent of metro employees went without pay. On the Piraeus-Kifissia electrical railway (ISAP), 44 percent of workers were not paid, while on the tram, only 4 percent of employees forewent their day’s salary.
“This is unacceptable and I can no longer hide it from the Greek people,” Hatzidakis said.
