AN ONGOING strike at JCC Payment Systems Limited has halted thousands of commercial transactions, threatening to choke the economy during the busy Christmas shopping season.
All employees at the company’s electronic centre have been on strike since last Friday, and an additional 62 employees refuse to work overtime. Phone calls to the JCC offices are answered by an apologetic recording, saying, “Due to industrial action, JCC remains closed.”
Transactions worth £15 million remain incomplete due to the strike, while cash withdrawals worth £250,000 a day by holders of foreign cards remain unsettled. The bank has also suspended all cash transfers between banks, and some employees have yet to receive their November salaries as a result of the strikes.
The labour dispute began when JCC re-hired an information technology specialist, reinstating him to his previous post of deputy department manager. Banking union ETYK appealed to the Labour Ministry, saying JCC had violated standard practices and the Ministry upheld the appeal.
However, when JCC effectively demoted the employee to the status of a newly appointed member of staff, ETYK was unhappy and decided to initiate strike action.
The Labour Ministry has dismissed the strike an illegal violation of the Industry Relations Code, and asked ETYK to lift all strike measures. ETYK representatives did not return calls for comment.
JCC is the primary processor of credit card transactions in Cyprus. The company maintains a client base of registered merchants who choose to accept credit cards as payment for the products and services they offer to their own customers. Company shareholders are the Bank of Cyprus, Laiki Group, Hellenic Bank, the National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank and Arab Bank.
Cyprus’s credit and debit card spending has been on the rise over the last four years, particularly during the month of December. In 2001, spending reached almost half a billion pounds, with more than £50 million during December alone. December 2000 and 1999 saw expenditures reach £42 million and £33 million, respectively.
If the strike continues, JCC management has said it will be forced to consider suspending the operation of credit card acceptance systems, an action that could severely affect local businesses that depend on holiday season spending.
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.
