by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of visitors who climbed Acropolis Hill here on Monday, or reached the entrances of other archaeological sites and museums throughout Greece, found padlocked doors due to a 24-hour anti-austerity strike declared by the Panhellenic Union of Employees for Guarding Antiquities.
The union called the warning walk-out to demand the immediate recruitment of an additional 200 guards to cover needs, as well as no further cutbacks on Sunday, holiday, and overtime pay, according to a statement.
As a result, tourists had to leave disappointedly.
"We came a long way and come up here and it is closed. You know, that kind of stinks," Don, an American tourist, told Xinhua at the foothill of the sacred rock.
Julio, a professor of architecture at an Argentinean university, said "I do not really know what is going on, but it is really frustrating that a group of 10 people feel like they own a place that is for all of us, for the whole world."
Julio, who has been studying ancient Greek architecture for years and is leaving Greece on Tuesday, will not have a chance to see the Parthenon temple up close before his departure.
"Because they have issues I cannot see a place that is 2,000 years old? It is ridiculous," he said.
But Yannis Mavrikopoulos, the union's president, asked for visitors' understanding when speaking to Xinhua.
"I would like to ask for forgiveness from the visitors who suffered this inconvenience, but I want to say that we as employees, as well as all European citizens and citizens of the world, are always suffering from strikes," he said, arguing that the strike for the sake of employees and visitors alike.
After seven years of harsh austerity cuts to address the debt crisis, due to lack of sufficient funding and personnel, Greece's archaeological treasures remain closed to the public for several hours or weeks, while employees in many cases haven't been paid their salaries for months, he explained.
"The sites and museums face understaffing problems, there are many shortages," Mavrikopoulos said.
According to the union, Acropolis Hill is only employing 27 guards at the moment, where at least 60 people are needed to take on the job.
On the Aegean Sea island of Naxos, there are currently only two guards for the entire island. As a result, even during the summer, archaeological sites were open to the public only twice a week.
According to the union, Greece needs at least 1,000 extra guards to properly operate dozens of archaeological sites and museums nationwide.
Even the National Archaeological Museum of Athens faces understaffing issues and, as a result, its shop remains closed every other day this February, local media Efimerida ton Syntakton (Editors' Journal) noted.
In 2016, at least 465,000 people visited the museum.
Culture minister Lydia Koniordou reiterated on Monday the government's promise to step up efforts to soon hire 200 guards and look into other demands.
The emailed statement was issued as the union of other culture ministry employees declared another 24-hour strike for Thursday, demanding they be paid for unpaid wages.
The new round of anti-austerity strike actions comes amid a debate triggered in Greece regarding the financial management of its rich cultural heritage after Italian luxury brand Gucci's request to lease the Acropolis Hill for a fashion show in June.
Gucci had proposed to offer a 2-million-euro grant for restoration works to stage the show, but the Greek Central Archaeological Council rejected the proposal last week arguing that such an event was inconsistent with the unique cultural character of the Acropolis monuments.
