In a joint ministerial decision on Thursday, Interior Minister Tassos Yiannitsis and Finance Minister Philippos Sahinidis have decided that 30,900 local authority staff will participate in the preparations for Sunday's general elections and receive an elections bonus, instead of the 6,500 originally envisaged as necessary.

Based on the decision, each local authority worker will receive an extra 98 euros, minus tax and other contributions, while the state will be set back roughly three million euro.

The decision has averted a brewing strike that might have scuppered the elections process, with the local authority workers' union federation POE-OTA deciding against labour mobilisation earlier on Thursday, in spite of denouncing the government's "dismissive, provocative and insulting stance" toward workers.

POE-OTA president Themis Balasopoulos said the union had called off the strike so that the elections might take place smoothly "and so the people can condemn the policies of the memorandum".

He added, however, that only those employees named in the ministerial decision will work on that day and that this would lead to problems in smoothly holding the elections.