Kasselakis talks to Thessaloniki ambulance staff, promises to support their demands

Visiting the Thessaloniki Ambulance Service (EKAB) facilities on Friday, main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Stefanos Kasselakis promised paramedics and staff that he will change their working conditions for the better, including their low pay. “It is inconceivable, inhuman and immoral and we will change this situation at EKAB. You are all that is best in society, in every sense of the word, and we, as the state, should recognise that,” Kasselakis said. Those saving human lives should at least earn enough to live their own, he added. He was replying to the head of the EKAB employees union, Christos Aggelidis, who said that paramedics were working for monthly wages of just 600-800 euros and asked for his support in seeking higher pay, as well as other demands.

The main opposition leader also pledged to always be at the side of the ambulance service staff and support their demands, stressing that at least 1,000 additional staff need to be hired, the fleet renewed and airlift bases revamped.

“We should not be building pharaonic projects and leaving emergency response to its fate,” Kasselakis noted, accusing the government of trying to bring in the private-sector.

The meeting was also attending by the deputy director of the Thessaloniki ambulance service Kosmas Iliadis. Kasselakis, who was accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking SYRIZA officials and MPs, was shown around the facilities and the ambulances.