TRANSPORT Minister Haris Thrasou yesterday called on workers from the Cyprus Airways Duty Free Shops not to stage a 24-hours strike planned for today.
The 230 workers are expected to picket the duty free shops in Larnaca and Paphos airports to protest against being left out in the cold in negotiations between the government and strategic investor Hermes Airport Consortium for the operation and upgrading of the airports. The government and Hermes are close to a deal.
The staff, who are employed by Cyprus Airways, say no one has thought of safeguarding their jobs once the strategic investor takes over. Shutting the shops down for 24 hours will be another financial blow to the cash-strapped national carrier.
“Members voted today to begin a 24-hour strike, which will begin at 7am tomorrow,” said Georgia Kalli, a representative of the workers.
Today, the workers will strike first outside the airport shops and from there will take a bus to the Finance Ministry in Nicosia where they will continue their demonstration, and deliver a letter of protest. Following that, the staff will head for parliament to hold another demonstration.
Cyprus Airways says the airline has no input into the negotiations with Hermes, as they were granted the Duty Free Shops by the government as a means of state support. Fifty per cent of the profits of the shops, with another amount in rent, goes back to the government and half the company’s board members are state appointed officials. Sources in the airline said it was the government’s responsibility to secure the staff’s jobs.
Thrasou met with representatives of the workers yesterday morning and told the employees it would be better to wait until the negotiations were completed before taking any action. He said the government was dong the best it could to secure as many existing jobs as possible, and asked the duty free staff to submit their precise demands in writing. He did admit that there were no guarantees that the new investor would agree to Cyprus Airways continuing to hold the Duty Free Shops. However, he said it was likely that the airline would retain the shops up until the end of this year.
