- Hotel workers in Crete are mobilizing for the February 25 national strike
- Hundreds in Heraklion remain unpaid due to prepaid card delays
- Unemployment benefit duration for seasonal workers is a core demand
- The abolition of the prepaid card system is requested
- Hotel managers’ association publicly supports several worker demands
- Chania hotel workers plan additional mobilizations on February 28
- Safety conditions and workplace accidents remain major concerns
Now the part nobody wants to say out loud:
Crete’s tourism machine is warming up for another profitable summer. Hotels will fill. Flights will land. Revenues will be celebrated.
Meanwhile, seasonal hotel workers are organizing buses to Athens.
Because for many of them, winter still means:
- Delayed payments
- Limited unemployment coverage
- Administrative chaos
- Prepaid benefit cards that sometimes function like a bureaucratic joke
The union in Heraklion held a general assembly. The administrative and financial report passed with 95.3% approval. Participation in the February 25 strike was endorsed decisively.
In Chania, workers are calling for both a general assembly and strike action, linking labor demands with broader accountability concerns in the wake of national tragedies.
The demands are not abstract:
- Extended unemployment benefits covering the full seasonal gap
- Abolition of the prepaid card system
- One-off payment after 20 years of service
- Stronger health and safety enforcement
- Real wage increases through collective agreements
Here is where it becomes interesting.
The Pancretan Association of Hotel Directors publicly expressed support for several of these demands — particularly those tied to state responsibility, such as the duration of unemployment and the abolition of prepaid cards.
Translation: even hotel managers are signaling that some of these issues fall under central government policy, not solely employers.
And that is the tension.
Tourism markets itself as Crete’s golden engine, but engines require maintenance.
Every year, the same paradox appears:
- Record tourism revenue
- Seasonal labor instability
- Infrastructure strain
- Safety complaints
- Political finger-pointing
The February 25 strike is less about spectacle and more about pressure before the season begins. Once summer starts, no one wants disruption, and everyone prefers the illusion of smooth operation.
Yawn? Perhaps. Predictable? Absolutely. Irrelevant? Not even close.
In Crete, tourism is not just a sector; it is a way of life. It is the entire economic bloodstream.
And when workers signal distress before the first charter flight lands, it is worth paying attention — even if the script feels familiar.
