Harbour workers vow to continue strike

By Athena Karsera

LARNACA harbour workers yesterday entered the eighth day of strike action with a vow to continue their protest.

At a meeting in Nicosia with the leadership of the unions Sek, Peo and Deok it was also decided to block the harbour entrance.

The unions said the strike would only be called off if the government came up with a specific plan to solve the harbour’s problems.

The workers are protesting over a lack of work at the harbour and a delay in the voluntary redundancy packages.

They also want the implementation of a Development Committee decision to modernise the harbour, guaranteeing them two to four years of further employment.

The Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation, Oev, expressed concern yesterday over the continuing strike and about Limassol harbour suffering a similar fate.

Their announcement came after the Ministers of Communications and Tourism, Leontios Ierodiaconou and Nicos Rolandis, met Limassol MPs on problems faced by Limassol harbour.

During the meeting, Ierodiaconou put the responsibility for the harbour’s difficulty in competing internationally on the workers themselves.

He said that if staff continued to refuse to work shifts and operate the harbour on a 24-hour basis, he would not recommend the government or House upgrade the port.

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