GREECE: Greek paramedics have decided to put the good of the Olympic Games ahead of their financial demands and called off strikes demanding bonuses for working long hours during the games, their union said yesterday.
The surging cost of the games has led Greece to tighten its purse strings, even scaling down a €2,500 Olympic bonus promised to all civil servants earlier this year.
Paramedics, who had been included in the bonus plan, had started rolling 24-hour strikes this week to press the government for the bonus.
"We decided to call off the strike under the weight of responsibility we feel towards the public and the entire event of the Olympic Games," Mr Lefteris Kyritsis, a board member of the EKAB paramedics union, told Reuters.
"What we have accepted (from the government) is not satisfactory and much lower than our demands, but despite that we will go to work for the good of the public and the games."
He said the paramedics would be paid overtime during the August 13-29th event, and would receive a small additional payment for being on call.
Greece is spending €1 billion on Olympic security alone, three times the amount spent by Sydney in 2000.
Construction cost overruns have also dragged down state finances and driven Greece's budget deficit figure above EU limits. The government took out loans beyond what it had planned to cover last-minute expenses.
Meanwhile, some suburbs of Athens suffered brief power cuts yesterday, but venues to be used in the games were not affected.
A sub-station fault left the Athens areas of Glyfada, Nea Smirni and areas of the port of Pireaus without electricity for a few minutes.
Greek authorities say they do not expect such problems during the games.