By Athena Karsera
A TWO-HOUR stoppage at all Larnaca hotels yesterday heralded the start of an escalation in the Lordos hotel dispute, with strike action threatened in other towns next week.
In a show of support for their colleagues at the Golden Bay and Lordos Beach hotels, who had been picketing for 22 days yesterday, all hotels in the Larnaca district ground to a halt from 10 am to noon yesterday.
Hotel workers also blocked the Larnaca to Dhekelia road for 15 minutes.
Speaking on state radio yesterday, Sek’s hotel representative Nicos Epistithiou said that the action of blocking the road had been taken “to inform tourists about our problem.”
Speaking about the strike, he warned that yesterday’s action was “the first measure; next week similar action will be taken in the other towns.”
Peo’s Yiannakis Phillipou added: “Today there was a general strike in Larnaca with only very basic staff remaining at work to offer the minimum of services.”
Phillipou then outlined the strike action to be taken in other towns.
He said that hotels in the Famagusta district would be striking for two hours on Wednesday, Limassol hotels on Thursday, Paphos hotels on Friday and Nicosia hotels the following Monday.
They announced that they had already held general meetings in the other towns to inform hotel workers about the planned strikes.
Both union representatives expressed the hope that Lordos Holdings, the company controlling the Golden Bay and Lordos Beach hotels, would come to the negotiating table to make the escalation unnecessary.
Hoteliers’ association Pasyxe yesterday criticised the unions, condemning the wave of sympathy strikes and saying the dispute was with one particular company. The hoteliers also called Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas to intervene.
Hotel workers have been striking over the dismissal of 73 of their colleagues from three Lordos Holdings hotels, one of which has been closed for the winter season.
The 73 were dismissed when sections of each hotel were turned over to private contractors to cut down costs.
Staff who have continued to work through the strikes at the two hotels on Thursday announced that they were suing the unions that ordered the walk- out.
This was the unions’ second brush with the law after Lordos Holdings last week took out court orders prohibiting pickets from blocking the hotel entrances or preventing people from entering the hotels.
