Archaeological sites and public museums, including the eponymous Acropolis site in central Athens, remained closed on Thursday, as a federation representing culture ministry employees called a strike in demand of what it calls a list of cultural monuments whose ownership, it claims, has been transferred to a so-called “super fund”.
Unionists representing tenured employees at the ministry, state-employed archaeologists as well as sites’ staff and guards have charged that the memorandum-mandated fund – a prerequisite for prospective privatizations – has included archaeological sites and monuments, such as the landmark White Tower in Thesssaloniki.
In a response to the industrial action, Culture Minister Myrsini Zorba called the strike “incompatible”, as “closed archaeological sites work against their protection as public property, but instead can become a boomerang, boosting arguments and plans in favor of private security (for the sites).”
