Jean Christou
CYPRUS Airways (CY) pilots union Pasipy will begin elections today to appoint a new executive committee, but the agreement giving them promotions in Eurocypria is expected to stand.
Former Pasipy chairman Chris Christodoulou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday he had resigned from the committee for personal reasons, despite rumours that other issues were at stake.
"I had enough. It was a lot of work and it was time to move on," Christodoulou said. "And after I resigned some of the committee members followed as well."
Pasipy recently sealed a deal with CY management giving them the lion’s share of captain vacancies in charter firm Eurocypria in return for concessions on wage levels for new-entry pilots in the national carrier.
Eurocypria pilots have been attempting to fight the move, which they believe is designed to prevent Pasipy from grounding CY in the crucial summer months.
The collective agreement with Eurocypria provides that captain promotions go to co-pilots who have three years experience within the charter firm, a provision that should automatically exclude CY pilots.
Eurocypria have already threatened to strike over CY’s deal with Pasipy, which bypasses their collective agreement, while there is a strong likelihood that Pasipy will strike if they don’t get the promotions. A large majority of CY co-pilots have held the same position for up to 15 years with little chance of promotion within a national carrier already top-heavy with captains.
Christodoulou said the agreement on the promotions would still stand as far as the new Pasipy committee is concerned.
In an attack on his Eurocypria counterparts, he said the charter firm’s pilots spent too much time talking about their collective agreement and not enough on safety.
Christodoulou implied Eurocypria pilots did not have enough flying experience to navigate difficult and busy airports and bad weather. "They have four new captains and five brand new co-pilots," he said. "It seems they want to wear the full stripes at any cost."
Eurocypria pilots hit back yesterday, saying Pasipy always brought up the issue of safety. "We have a team of safety pilots and people responsible for this area," said one Eurocypria source.
Eurocypria believes CY will try to put off implementation of the agreement with Pasipy until after the summer season for fear of a strike in either company.
The Eurocypria source also said the Labour Ministry had failed to respond to their request for mediation in the issue, which they filed on June 5. The industrial relations code provides that the Ministry must respond within 15 days.
CY spokesman Tassos Angelis, responding to Pasipy’s accusations against Eurocypria, told the Cyprus Mail the company would not make any move or decision which would jeopardise passenger safety. "Safety is a priority for us and we comply with international regulations," he said. "Just because Pasipy says safety is as stake does not mean it’s true."
