In Brief
TRANSPORT STRIKE
Stoppage on metro, tram and electric railway on Monday There will be no service on the metro, electric railway and tram between noon and 4 p.m. on Monday, as employees announced another work stoppage aimed at pressing management to sign a collective labor agreement. The workers are threatening to step up their action if the government insists on only offering them pay rises of between 3 and 3.5 percent rather than the more generous increases they would receive through a collective contract. HOSPITAL SUPPLIES Orthopedic firms to stop selling Companies that supply orthopedic equipment to state hospitals are threatening to stop selling any more goods and to remove any items that have not been paid for from the institutions. The firms have warned that they will take the action on Thursday as some of the companies have not been paid for up to three-and-a-half years. The total amount owed to the orthopedic firms is thought to reach 700 million euros. Marathon record The number of participants in the 26th Athens Classic Marathon, which will take place on November 9, has exceeded all expectations. Already about 9,400 runners will take part in the Marathon and the 5- and 10-kilometer races, the head of the organizing committee, Costas Panagopoulos, said yesterday. Some 54 percent of participants are foreigners. Last year a total of 7,250 runners took part. Immigration pact Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos yesterday heralded a new drive to combat illegal immigration in the Mediterranean region following a meeting with his visiting counterpart from Malta Carmelo Bonnici. «Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus have common problems and a common goal of promoting legal immigration and taking measures to curb illegal immigration,» Pavlopoulos said. Bonnici proposed a «core cooperation» among these countries, which could then be extended to include countries like France and Spain. E-crime Police in Athens have been questioning two Nigerian nationals believed to have swindled some 20,000 euros out of a bank customer’s accounts by breaking into his Internet access codes. The Nigerians, aged 24 and 25, allegedly broke into three accounts in the name of the Corinth-based businessmen and transferred the funds into the accounts of two Greeks, for whom the migrants are believed to be working. Oil probe The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) delayed responding to reports last May that tons of imported sunflower oil was a public health risk, a report said yesterday. EFET responded to the reports, according to which large quantities of toxic Ukrainian sunflower oil had entered the Greek market, on May 6 rather than April 25 when it had first been informed, according to the report submitted to the Directorate General for Public Administration. Cheaper electricity The Public Power Corporation’s reduced tariff for evening consumption comes into effect tomorrow. Consumers who have registered for the special tariff will pay a lower rate between 3.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. and between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. The measure will apply until April 30.
