Disgruntled hospital workers barge into ministry, interrupt meeting

Some 50 to 60 members of the union representing Greece's public hospital workers, POEDIN, on Thursday barged into the Health Ministry and made it to the ministry's amphitheater, where Health Minister Andreas Xanthos and his alternate, Pavlos Polakis, were meeting with other unionists.

The protesters shouted anti-government and anti-austerity slogans, preventing Polakis from completing his address and exchanging barbs with the official.

They are demanding overdue back-pay and more staff at cash-strapped public hospitals.