Cyta unions want more talk prior to privatisation

By Angelos Anastasiou

TRADE unions at the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) have identified several points in the Finance ministry’s proposal on privatisation submitted to the employees, for which they demand further clarification, discussions, consultation and negotiation, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

A draft plan of the government’s proposal, comprising a 12-month transition period after a private investor takes over the telecom utility and four options for employees after that, was leaked to the press on Tuesday.

Specifically, employees will have the option of moving to the new private organisation that will be run by the new investors with a package of free shares to sweeten the deal, work in the new company but retain their position at state-owned CyTA on unpaid leave until either the employee or the employer decide to scrap either of the posts, apply for a voluntary exit plan that will be made available in the meantime, or be seconded to the civil service.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the unions said they have prepared a note listing their objections, observations and reservations, which will be forwarded to the Finance minister, the cabinet and President Nicos Anastasiades.

In addition, the unions said, they will request an audience with Anastasiades in the coming days so they can lay out their arguments.

In a joint session on Wednesday, the five CyTA employee unions settled on a single position with regard to the Finance minister’s stated intention of forwarding a government amendment to the existing law regulating the operation of the company to the cabinet for a vote, which, according to the unionists, is the first step in the denationalisation of the company.

“The unions unanimously express their disagreement to the fact that such a serious bill, which could impact the constitutionally safeguarded labour and pensions rights of employees, and which directly touches on issues under discussion at the Joint Advisory Committee that was set up to facilitate the privatisations process, has not been made available to them, so that they can express their views, prior to its forwarding to the cabinet for voting,” the statement read.

At the same time, the unions added, they reiterated that any bill governing employees’ constitutional, labour and pension rihts, as well as issues relating to national security in the event of CyTA’s privatisation, “should be forwarded simultaneously, in a single bundle, to the cabinet, and then to the House of Representatives, along with the aforementioned amendment”.

However, the unions welcomed the Finance minister’s commitment that dialogue at the Joint Advisory Committee will continue on all issues, and expressed their readiness to contribute to the dialogue constructively, as they have to date.

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