UNIONS representing staff working for petroleum companies BP and Exxon-Mobil yesterday announced they would continue their strike indefinitely after renewed talks over the renewal of a collective agreement failed.
The move means that BP and Exxon-Mobil stations around the island could be left with out petrol by early next week.
The dispute began two weeks ago when demands for a rise in pension and redundancy pay were denied.
In a news release yesterday, Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEV) said an indefinite strike was a wholly disproportionate response to the issue in dispute.
“The dispute arose during negotiations for the renewal of their collective agreement,” the statement said.
“A proposal issued by the mediation service of the Labour Ministry was accepted by the companies, subject to a few points of clarification.
“Further talks with the unions and the Labour Ministry resulted in the Mediator issuing an amended proposal. This amended proposal clarified the arrangements for pension increases without altering the substance of spirit of the Mediator’s original proposals. The companies accepted this, but the employees didn’t.”
OEV said the pay and benefits enjoyed by employees were very competitive when compared nationally and internationally.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, BP Chairman, George Petrou said the strike would affect BP and Exxon-Mobil stations on the island.
“The indefinite strike means that petrol stations will not be supplied and we will have no other option but to close them down until the dispute is sorted out,” he said.
“There are still ongoing talks to resolve the situation, but it seems we have an unacceptable disagreement regarding pay rises. We have been giving redundancy and pension pay for 20 years although it was at our discretion. Their demands to have the pension and redundancy pay made mandatory would have a major effect on local and foreign companies.”
A spokesman for PEO trade union said talks were still going on between the two parties but stressed the strike would continue indefinitely.
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.
