CA staff threaten strike action

By Charlie Charalambous

PASSENGERS face disruption on Cyprus Airways (CA) flights as cabin staff threaten industrial action over ‘seasonal’ status.

CA union Synika, which represents cabin staff, yesterday warned passengers to expect flight delays as from tomorrow.

It is unclear what form the industrial action will take and whether some planes could be indefinitely grounded.

Synika claims CA has reneged on an agreement to give seasonal staff permanent positions.

CA denies it has broken any contractual agreement on cabin staff and accuses Synika of refusing arbitration on the dispute.

“They are demanding that cabin staff become permanent employees after completing only nine months’ continual employment, which is contrary to any existing agreement,” a CA source told the Cyprus Mail.

The company also says that the union’s demands were rejected by the Labour Ministry and that when the issue was referred for compulsory arbitration Synika refused to participate.

“They have threatened to take strike measures during a very busy holiday period. This is in violation of the industrial code,” said the source.

CA says that the rule by which staff are employed on a permanent basis after two years of continual service does not apply to cabin crew.

“Cabin staff are recruited according to the needs of the company only, but there is an election coming up so everybody’s demanding more,” said the company source.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.