Larnaca bus employees return to work, Nicosia continues strikes (update 2)

Larnaca bus company employees resumed work at noon on Tuesday, ending the strike they have been on since Friday, but their Nicosia counterparts have voted to continue their industrial action.

District secretary of the PEO branch in Larnaca Nadia Kyritsi said that after dismissal letters for 36 employees were withdrawn, the workers decided to suspend the strike to start intensive dialogue to resolve the long-standing labour issues, with the help of the ministers of labour and transport.

But in Nicosia, employees voted by 99 votes to 84 to continue their strike. Representatives of Peo and Sek trade union confederations appealed to the ministers of labour and transport to press ahead with initiatives to resolve the industrial dispute, even though strike action was continuing.

The labour ministry is understood to have clarified it cannot mediate as industrial actions continue.

Trade union representatives said the employees’ decision to continue to strike was indicative of the gravity of the problems they face. They said the ministry was aware of the problems, and that despite promises given in 2020 after a strike, action to address them had not been taken.

“Promises were given, deadlines set but these were not adhered to,” Peo’s Athos Eleftheriou told the Cyprus News Agency. Responsibility for the inconvenience rests with management of the company which had unilaterally broken off procedures that were underway at the ministry, he added.

Bus drivers from Nicosia and Larnaca had earlier on Tuesday postponed a planned protest march to the ministries of transport and labour.

They later met with the labour and transport ministers to discuss potential solutions to their issues.

Trade unions said that Nicosia bus drivers will gather at Solomos square at 9am on Wednesday, and then march to the transport ministry to deliver their list of demands.

“These people have lost trust in the company, and we must find a way so that buses will be back on the roads in Nicosia, just as the decision was taken today to end the strike in Larnaca,” said Sek’s Charalambos Avgoustis.

Two drivers, Nicos Gkikas and Thanos Megaloeconomou said their work contracts were antiquated and that they worked long hours without enough breaks and on low pay.

“We work 10 hours to be get paid for eight, six days a week, whereas we should work a five-day week, seven and half hours a day as in Europe,” Gkikas said.

Workers’ representatives said there are many important problems, including issues of safety, health, legislation, long hours, lack of adequate breaks and infrastructure. These problems, they said, have existed since 2020 and while promises have been made employees do not believe issues will be resolved without pressing the point.

Despite the withdrawal of the termination letters and acceptance of the invitation of the ministries to meet for discussion, disgruntled employees and unions had initially refused to back down.

On Monday Cyprus Public Transport (CPT) apologised to the public for the disturbance caused by the “unannounced strike” of bus drivers in Nicosia and Larnaca.

It said that on Saturday, after a meeting with the workers’ unions, the ministries of labour and transport had reached a joint agreement, for the unions to end the strike and for the company to withdraw the termination notices to renegotiate.