Rio casino shuts down as dispute with workers rages

The casino at Rio, near Patra in western Greece, appears to be on its last legs. Its management decided to close it for an indefinite period on Monday, having changed its opening times last week.

The casino management is locked in a dispute with employees, whom it is asking to accept shift work and a pay cut of up to 25 percent, as the company’s streamlining plan dictates.

The employees appear unconvinced and are demanding to be paid what is owed to them: They speak of salary dues adding up to 14 months and have accused the management of delay tactics.

Union head Dimitris Karageorgopoulos says the problems in the casino’s operation started after the agreement between the union and the management for the immediate payment of 800,000 euros to workers, to count toward total dues of over 5 million euros.

On Sunday the company sent a letter to all employees accusing the union of torpedoing the casino’s survival and claiming talks are ongoing with three interested investors, who were not named. The investors are said to be interested in the three companies controlled by Theros International Gaming Inc – i.e. the casinos of Rio, Corfu and Alexandroupoli.