Striking museum workers shut down archaeological sites

Striking museum workers shut down archaeological sites and monuments across Greece over the weekend in protest at a government decision to cut down their weekend day rate.

In a statement, the union of antiquities security guards said that weekend pay had been reduced by 35 percent in line with bailout-mandated public sector reforms. They guards warned that weekend strikes would continue unless the government rolled back the measure.

It was the third time in two months that tourists were denied access to Greece’s archaeological sites.

Tourism is Greece’s biggest industry, making up a fifth of GDP.