Union attacks doctors’ rejection of pay deal

By Martin Hellicar

THE CIVIL servants’ union Pasydy reacted angrily yesterday to government doctors rejecting a pay and conditions deal it had hammered out for them with the government.

The doctors’ branch of the union voted overwhelmingly on Friday night to reject the deal. Two-thirds of the 200 doctors who attended a heated branch meeting in Nicosia voted “no”.

Pasydy General-secretary Glafcos Hadjipetrou was not pleased yesterday, saying the union refused to start from scratch and negotiate a fresh deal.

“The agreement was good and proper and met with Pasydy’s full approval,” he said. “The fact that doctors rejected it does not mean Pasydy will try to get them a better deal,” he said.

He sent a clear warning to the doctors, saying the union would not kow-tow to “factions” within its ranks or endorse any sort of strike action in this pre-election period.

Hadjipetrou said the doctors would now have to wait until after the February presidential poll before the matter is looked at again.

This is not the first time the union leadership has clashed with the doctors’ branch. Earlier this month the leadership of the branch resigned, protesting that Pasydy had agreed to provisions in the deal with the government that the doctors had never seen before.

The branch-union differences were patched up after it became clear the contentious provisions had never been part of the deal – but only of a draft agreement. The branch leadership withdrew their resignations but now seem set for another show-down with Pasydy.

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