THE MANAGEMENT of state broadcaster CyBC yesterday lashed out at claims by staff union EVRIK that the monitoring of employees’ working hours had not been discussed with the union.
The employees last week staged a 30-minute strike over the state broadcaster’s plans to monitor staff via cameras placed in the corridors and next to the clocking-on machine.
The camera system is intended stop employees from coming in late, or not coming in at all and instead having their colleagues punch in for them; management has threatened to dock staff wages if they failed to clock in.
Last week, EVRIK chairman Andreas Limbouris accused the administration of sidelining the union and issuing an executive decision directly to the employees.
“We are furious with the administration for sidelining the union and talking directly to the staff without informing us,” he said.
But in a written statement yesterday, the CyBC management insisted they had discussed the issue of the installation of the monitoring system with the union and that their only reaction had been to demand that managing staff be subject to the same scrutiny.
“The board of directors felt that the directors and department managers, who are constantly at our disposal and are called to work overtime without any pay, should not punch in,” the statement said.
“By punching in, employees will give proof that they are present at the station; and the auditor had noted weaknesses in the procedure of keeping to the working hours and a notable increase in the overtime of permanent employees.”
According to the statement, the management insisted that the installation of the CCTV camera was not an infringement of privacy.
“The system is more widely connected with security in the CyBC because we can monitor who goes in and out of the station,” the statement read.
“The CyBC intends to expand the security system by installing CCTV cameras in the outer areas to secure the building complex.”
The management blasted EVRIK for their strike on May 27, saying their actions were in breach of the code of industrial relations.
“The board of directors rejects their unfounded claim of any breach of procedure and that the management’s actions were unacceptable,” the statement read.
“On the contrary, the board feels that the employees’ actions were in breach of procedure, and unacceptable.”
