Wage dispute at Institute of Genetics and Neurology

THE TWO trade unions representing staff at the Institute of Genetics and Neurology in Nicosia yesterday appealed to management to reconsider its position and show good will in a dispute over wage scales.

SEK and PEO, representing some 80 staff at the institute, threatened to take strike measures last Tuesday over claims that management violated an agreement to complete a study on wage scales and begin negotiations with the unions.

The unions yesterday charged management with failing to meet its obligations, while trying to offload the problem onto the unions. They referred to the Labour Ministry’s conclusion that management was to blame for the deadlock since they failed to complete a study on wage scales by July as previously agreed. On their part, management at the institute say the study is incomplete and needs further investigation for a thorough assessment of employee wage scales.

Last Tuesday, the unions voted in favour of industrial action to be taken after this month’s TELETHON charity events. Yesterday, they called for further dialogue to solve their differences with management within the framework of the Industrial Relations Code.

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.