Former employees launch law suit against CY

FORMER Cyprus Airways (CY) staff have launched a lawsuit against the airline, claiming that they have not been paid the compensation promised to them when they were made redundant.

A lawsuit on behalf of the 83 former employees, all Nicosia residents, was submitted to the Supreme Court by the law offices of Alecos Markides and Drakos and Efthymiou.
According to the suit, the former employees had a verbal agreement with CY in which they would accept to resign voluntarily in exchange for financial compensation.

The former employees are claiming that CY did not stand by its word and are now demanding more money from the airline in compensation.

The demands, the plaintiffs claim, are based on “damages and injury due to the verbal agreement breached by the airline”.

The lawsuit comes as CY is expecting EU approval for a crucial loan of 70 million euros.
Last year, the government applied for the loan, which is contingent on making the ailing airline a viable business concern at last.

The 70 million euro loan is guaranteed by the government, as part of a restructuring plan for CY, subject to the Commission’s approval.

The rescue scheme had brought about a shake-up of CY’s board of directors, across-the-board pay cuts and massive layoffs.

Some £3 million went on redundancy packages in 2005, and over £10 million in 2006, to offload 424 employees of the airline.

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.