Lordos welcomes decision to call off strike

By Jean Christou

LORDOS Hotels (Holdings) yesterday welcomed a union decision to call off the strike at the company’s Larnaca hotels.

In a written announcement the company said it would help in every possible way to soften the consequences of the 168-day strike, “which was called unilaterally”.

The company made it clear that it had not committed itself to the interim suggestion which prompted the unions to call off their measures on Friday.

“What exists is a proposal for the hiring of a number of people which the employers will respond to if the Labour Ministry takes a stance on the issue of compensation for the workers considered to be surplus” the Lordos statement said.

Unions say a number of people made redundant by the hotel in January were in fact dismissed, not made redundant, when management decided to subcontract part of the hotel operation.

Some 54 workers were affected by the move, prompting the union to initiate strike action.

A further 60 plus workers then came out on strike in support of their colleagues in what has become one of the longest industrial disputes the island has ever seen.

According to reports from Larnaca yesterday, union representatives went to the Golden Bay and Lordos Beach hotels where they handed in an official letter saying they had ended their strike and requested to report for work on Monday.

But the dispute is not completely resolved, say unions, who are awaiting the conclusions of a special committee set up by the government to help resolve the issues.

The unions say they will accept whatever the committee decides.

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.