CY list ‘ready today’

THE LIST of 385 people to be made redundant from Cyprus Airways (CY) should be ready today at the latest, Transport Minister Haris Thrasou said yesterday.

Thrasou said that by the beginning of next week the CY board would have the redundancy letters ready to send out.

Meanwhile pilots union PASIPY yesterday met House President Demetris Christofias to explain their case for calling a four-hour work stoppage on Thursday over a dispute with the company centring on pay cuts.

The row revolves around the details of a controversial rescue plan for CY that needs to be given the all clear by the EU before the airline gets a much-needed £58 million. The plan envisages across-the-board salary and benefit cutbacks and massive redundancies.

Pilots claim they are being used as scapegoats in the drive to slash costs and that the company went back on it agreement with them.

They have called a work stoppage from 4-8pm on Thursday in order to protest outside parliament.

PASIPY spokesman Tassos Christofides said yesterday after meeting Christofias that the work stoppage was all they had left in order to get through to the company. He said Christofias had listened to their views and had understood their position.

“The strike is the last measure we have left that we can take against the company,” said Christofides. “Yet again we apologise to passengers for any inconvenience.”

Christofides said it was not too late to try and sort out the problem before Thursday.

The strike will affect four flights in total but CY has changed the times to ensure the flights are operated before 4pm and after 8pm.
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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.