ATHENS – Greek riot police used batons and teargas yesterday to disperse about 150 protesting workers who had blocked tourists from entering the Acropolis monuments, Greece’s most famous landmark.
The workers had blocked the main entrance gate to the ancient marble temples since Wednesday, saying they had been left unpaid for two years and demanding that their temporary contracts be renewed.
“Police entered the site from a side door and dispersed them using teargas grenades,” an eyewitness said, adding that there were no injuries. “The gate is open now.” Another Reuters witness said police also attacked journalists covering the protest and damaged cameras.
Dozens of stunned tourists watched as police came out of the main entrance to disperse the protesters forcibly.
“We’ve been planning this trip for five years. It was very discouraging,” US tourist Susan Alworth told Reuters TV. “This is a symbol. It belongs to the whole world.”
The Acropolis remained closed for tourists after the brief clashes, as police cordoned off the main gate to prevent protesters from entering the site. Rallying workers vowed to continue with protests.
Greece has been shedding temporary government workers as part of deficit-cutting efforts agreed in an EU/IMF bailout last May. Ministries often hire temporary workers before elections without having secured funds to pay their wages.
Protesters held banners reading “24 months unpaid” and “We want permanent jobs”. Five were temporarily detained, a police official said.
Millions of tourists visit the Acropolis every year to marvel at its 2,500-year-old classical Parthenon temple to the goddess Athena and other monuments.
Repeated anti-austerity strikes that shut the country’s archaeological sites and left tourists stranded at ports have hurt the key tourism sector, down 7-8 per cent this year.
“No one has the right to close the Acropolis site, to block thousands of tourists,” tourism minister George Nikitiades told parliament.
“It’s like telling them you’ve spent your money for nothing, you shouldn’t have come here.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Romanian finance ministry workers have stopped work to protest against bonus cuts, a sign of growing popular opposition to the government’s IMF-mandated austerity drive.
Local media said about 4,000 workers from the finance ministry, employment offices and city halls in Bucharest and other cities had joined the protest, launched on Wednesday.
Romania, the European Union’s second poorest member, has taken tough steps including enforcing a 25 per cent cut in public sector wages to stick within stringent International Monetary Fund terms for a €20 billion bailout. – (Reuters)