Government warns airline union not to strike

THE GOVERNMENT has warned Cyprus Airways’ largest union not to go ahead with a planned four-hour strike on Thursday.

Communications and Works Minister Leontios Ierodiaconou said yesterday he would strongly advise “against choosing to strike”, as the government will not bow to the airline unions’ demands.

He also said that contrary to earlier reports, there were no plans for government mediation in the pay dispute.

The strike is planned by the union Cynika, which is demanding pay increases and other benefit boosts in line with the employees of other semi- governmental organisations.

Cyprus Airways spokesman Tassos Angelis said yesterday that the company and the union were “heading for confrontation”, as no meetings have been held to discuss the dispute.

If the strike goes ahead, he said, no flights will take off between 7 and 11am on Thursday, but that all scheduled flights would leave with delays. All passengers have been informed and the airline hopes for a minimum of disruption.

Cyprus Airways Chairman Takis Kyriakides said yesterday

the pay demands were not justified, given the company’s financial state.

He dismissed claims by the staff that they were treated like “second-class citizens”, saying they were treated far better than staff working for other airlines.

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.