A scandal erupts in Greece over a bar where waiters served tourists while standing in water
On the beach of Agia Marina on the Greek island of Rhodes, waiters served the tables of visitors to one of the establishments while standing up to their chests in water. This outraged the network.
Thus, tourists filmed it and posted it on social media, causing a flurry of negative comments. The authorities reacted to this, and the bar was even fined, Greek Reporter writes.
The incident took place in a bar located on the northeast coast of the Greek island, about 4 km south of the capital Rhodes. In the footage that went viral online, a young waiter was seen holding a tray and almost swimming to customers who were relaxing on the equipped seating areas in the sea. Observers were outraged by what was happening and said that this was reminiscent of medieval working conditions.
The scandalous video attracted the attention of local authorities. Greek Labour Minister Adonis Georgiadis condemned the conditions.
"The incident caught on camera is unacceptable. I sent inspectors to the bar as soon as I saw the footage. We all need to understand that the era of slavery is over. Employees are not slaves, they are people with rights. We are here to monitor compliance. And any businessman who pretends to forget about this will suffer the consequences of the law. I want to be clear. I want us to have tourism, and all of this is subject to full respect for the rights of workers," he stressed.
In response to the public outrage and negative reaction, the Greek authorities launched an investigation into the incident, checking the legality of the construction of floating structures on the seashore and the observance of labour rights of employees. It turned out that the bar is run by an entrepreneur who is also the manager of the Greek Parliament's canteen.
The police looked into the matter and noted that the floating platforms, which waiters had to reach up to their chests in water, were built in accordance with the law. However, the owners were fined anyway.
According to the coastguard, similar violations were detected during previous inspections on 16 and 21 June, and protocols were drawn up.
