CUSTOMERS of the National Bank of Greece in Cyprus were plunged into crisis yesterday as bank employees’ union ETYK called an indefinite strike.
Members of the bank’s IT department have walked off the job – meaning no transactions whatsoever can be processed – making it impossible for the bank to function. In addition to this, ETYK has ordered all other banks not to accept any transaction with the National Bank of Greece in Cyprus.
The action stems from the employment of four National Bank of Greece employees from the bank’s Athens headquarters.
ETYK claim the employment of these four workers is in breach of a number of existing agreements signed between the union, the Bank Employers Association, the Labour Ministry and the bank itself.
“We have reported the National Bank of Greece to the Bank Employers Association and in a meeting they held on Monday they stood behind our position and agreed that the bank is violating the agreements and called on them to conform,” ETYK boss Loizos Hadjicostis said yesterday.
According to the union, in the case of two employees, their contract of employment with the bank had ended on April 30. In the case of the other two employees, ETYK believes they should be in retirement.
The National Bank of Greece in Cyprus responded through their General Manager Michalis Kokkinos yesterday by calling the action by the union to strike as “violent and illogical”.
“The cases involve four high-ranking members of the bank. Two of the members have already been elected to the bank’s Board of Directors, while the other two have been called in from Greece to assist us and based on an existing law they have every right to be here,” Kokkinos said.
According to Kokkinos, ETYK have no right to pass judgement or disapprove of any members of the Board of Directors, as this is in the jurisdiction of their shareholders and the Central Bank.
All National Bank employees went to the ETYK building yesterday where there was a tense atmosphere, with animated discussions taking place between union and bank members in the conference hall.
Kokkinos was adamant that his bank was not in the wrong and that they were prepared to take the matter as far as they could.
“We will do anything based on Cypriot and European law to prove that our position is correct. I do not think that we can give in to such violent pressure which definitely goes beyond what a strike constitutes,” he added.
Hadjicostis said they were not worried in the slightest by the prospect of the bank taking the matter to a European Court.
“The bank has refused to conform, something that they have to do based on the agreements signed with the Bank Employers Association, an organisation where they are members,” he said. “We have no objection if they want to appeal to a European Court.”
The National Bank of Greece in Cyprus yesterday announced that they had already withdrawn from the Bank Employers Association.
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