MEGA television network, one of Greece’s five major television networks, did not air their nightly news broadcast on Monday evening, as the company’s employees went on strike from 6 pm until 12 am in protest of the anticipated cut in wages.
Efsyn.gr notes that the network’s administration had previously informed employees that there will be mass wage reductions of 5%, 10% and 20% depending on each employee’s salary levels.
The news site further reports that during Tuesday’s meeting employees were unable to reach an agreement with Mega’s administrative arm, citing sources that said that the channel’s CEO justified the intended slashes by claiming that the network is faced with 30 million euros worth of costs. Out of this amount, 2.5 million euros will be covered through cutting salaries.
The timeframe of Monday’s strike coincided with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s remarks on the new Greek government’s agenda, thus the channel which is viewed by millions of Greeks did not transmit the speech.
MEGA is owned by Greek oligarchs Bobolas, Psichatis and Vardinoyannis. In 2012 the group’s borrowing reached 123,500,000 euro.
The government is also planning to demand € 7,403,900 from MEGA in unpaid taxes dating back to 2011.
