DISY steps in on CY reform row

OPPOSITION DISY said yesterday it was prepared to begin a round of consultations with the Cyprus Airways (CY) board and its unions in an attempt to bridge the gaps between the two sides over the controversial rescue package for the airline.

Party leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday met Costas Demetriou, the head of CY’s largest union CYNIKA, who briefed him on the contents of plan, full details of which were revealed last week.

Anastassiades said the party would begin an overall analysis of the content. “Our intention is to carry out a round of contacts both with the board of the airline, the responsible ministers and of course with the unions,” he said.

Demetriou said his union would welcome the intervention of DISY on the plan, which he said victimised staff.

The union chief repeated that CYNIKA could not negotiate with the company on the proposals in the plan until the board handed over the research and studies conducted by the foreign experts that drew up the plan. He also warned that if the company attempted to pull any “unilateral action” on the plan, the unions would not hesitate to protect their rights.

Under the plan, CY must axe 343 jobs, almost one fifth of its staff, if it is to stave off bankruptcy by the end of the year. The plan also includes across-the-board salary cuts starting with eight per cent for pilots and five per cent for the remainder of staff, plus other cuts in benefits, most notably to provident funds, seen as sacrosanct to the unions.

CY’s board hopes the unions will agree quickly to the blueprint, which it must submit to the EU on November 2 in order to gain approval for a £58 million loan to cover the £10 million cost of redundancies, £30 million to pay back a recently acquired short-term loan, and £18 million for the cost of restructuring.

Management says as long as the unions agree in principle to the contents of the plan by then, the two sides will have until the end of the year to iron out the details.