LABOUR Minister Christos Taliadoros said yesterday negotiations to reach an agreement with Cyprus Airways unions on a plan to save the ailing national carrier could not continue indefinitely.
The Ministry’s mediation services has been attempting to thrash out an agreement between the company and unions for weeks but has so far been unable to get both sides to meet half way.
Speaking to CyBC radio yesterday following a meeting with the Pilots’ union Taliadoros said: “We have reached the point where these negotiations must either pay off or we must say that we have been unable to help in reaching a mutual agreement.”
Taliadoros said the Ministry was currently trying to either bring both sides in direct agreement or to bring their respective positions closer, at which point it could intervene.
“We have been negotiating for days and this cannot go on indefinitely… Today, tomorrow or Monday will determine whether there is room to reach a solution,” he said.
Yesterday the company’s crisis escalated further following Cyprus Airways employees’ union SYNIKA-SEK’s public outrage and exasperation over the content of a proposal put to the company’s board on Wednesday by an AKEL representative.
Reports said the proposal, among other things, suggested reducing compensation by 10-30 per cent; the immediate dismissal of surplus staff; and to issue a counter strike in light of strikes over the proposed measures. Four out of seven board members are said to have agreed with the proposal.
According to the union, the proposal violated labour laws and rules that have existed in Cyprus for decades. In a statement it said the proposal had been “unexpected” without it being an issue with the board, particularly during a time when “persistent negotiations” re taking place at the Labour Ministry to reach a solution.
The union also called on President Tassos Papadopoulos to be briefed on what was going on and to protect the workers from what it called “aimless and irresponsible” actions.
But AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou denied the accusations and said they were “disgraceful and unethical” and only motivated at wounding AKEL. Speaking to reporters he said his party had not authorised anyone to put forward its position on Cyprus Airways and said that board members’ opinions did not represent AKEL. In fact Kyprianou pointed out that AKEL had always tried to help the company and that SYNIKA’s accusations were politically motivated, as his party would never allow the airline’s employees to be victimised.
Commenting on the incident, left-wing union SIDIDEK-PEO said the proposal should never been put forward at a time when negotiations were ongoing. “It was aimless, out of place, wrong and useless,” it said and further recommended that employees ignore it.
“The situation as it is forming today is critical. The Labour Ministry’s involvement and that of the Minister’s in the dialogue procedures to save the company is giving its success fresh possibilities,” it said.
