Stevedores threaten strike over contracts

PORTS PARALYSIS was on the cards yesterday after port employees threatened to strike if the trade unions fail to reach an agreement with the Port Authorities.
The port authorities and the trade unions cannot find a collective agreement and trade unions were said to be holding a general meeting of all their members yesterday to discuss the issue and inform the employers of their next steps.

Giorgos Pourros of the Ports Authority said they had not been informed of any strike. “As far as we know, the trade unions are meeting to discuss our proposal and make their decision.
“The Ports Authority has already had meetings and discussions with them; they are now meeting among themselves. However, we do not know of any strike taking place yet, no decision has been reached,” he said. Pourros told the Mail the issue was over pay rises the unions had demanded for its employees.

A trade union representative claimed however that the unions had been patient enough with the Port Authorities and declared their stance unacceptable. “We have been negotiating with them for some time about renewing our collective agreement but the Authorities have been mocking the unions of their employees,” he said.

He went on to say that despite an agreement having been reached in principle, the representatives of the Authorities actually went back on what they said and made other demands that the unions were directly opposed to. The union representative also called on the Communications Minister to take appropriate measures so that the Port Authorities accept the initial agreement, as any action taken by the union would simply be detrimental to the Authorities themselves.

The Port Authorities undoubtedly will be keen to avoid any measures which are set to result in a strike, however Pourros did not give any indication on whether they were willing to change their proposal should it be rejected by the trade unions in their meeting on Monday. He diplomatically said that the “decision lies with the Governing Board of the Port Authorities”.

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