Sandy Beach employees΄ ordeal continues
CORFU. They went without unemployment benefits in 2024-2025.
(Workers Centre) The hardship of Sandy Beach hotel employees, ongoing since last year, is continuing due to the bankruptcy of Meeting Point Hotel Management Hellas, the successor company 3R Corfu IKE, bureaucratic obstacles at the Public Employment Service (D.YP.A.), and government inaction. As a result, many employees did not receive unemployment benefits during the winters of 2024 and 2025.
Following a parliamentary question by the Communist Party of Greece, employees organised a protest in Lefkimmi, including a symbolic blockade of the local D.YP.A. office, and submitted a collective objection against the rejection of their unemployment benefit applications.
In June 2024, Meeting Point, which managed the Sandy Beach and Sandy Villas hotels in Corfu, declared bankruptcy. Before filing for bankruptcy, the company transferred operations to 3R Corfu IKE, owned by the Rizos family. While the transfer of contracts went smoothly for most employees, around 44 workers experienced delays or irregularities in their contract terminations.
When these workers applied for unemployment benefits at the end of the 2024 tourist season, it was discovered that the ERGANI system incorrectly listed them as employed by Meeting Point instead of 3R Corfu IKE. This administrative error led to the denial of their unemployment benefits, leaving them at risk of losing financial support for the coming winter.
Despite repeated protests and assurances from both the Ministry of Labour and D.YP.A., no resolution has been provided. The employees, with support from their union and the Corfu Workers Centre, continue to demand the benefits they are legally entitled to, highlighting that the issue stems from administrative errors beyond their control.
ELENI KORONAKI
