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Cyprus

CPT welcomes end of bus strike

One of the CPT buses

Cyprus Public Transport (CPT) said on Monday that it was glad that inconvenience to the public due to the bus driver strike in Nicosia, is now over.

In a statement that company said that from its launch, it has absorbed all the staff of the previous company, with the commitment to employ them for at least a year.

“In the midst of the worst global crisis in a year and a half, the company continues to employ all its staff and – despite the crisis – we have successfully started and continue our mission[…] to improve the quality of transport services,” the statement added.

CPT said it is recruiting new drivers and additional staff to strengthen its team, however, there is a small number of staff whom the company has not managed to retrain or install in other positions, in its bid to re-organise towards efficiency and financial health.

Therefore, the statement added, the termination of 36 employees had begun, which resulted in a negotiation before the Ministry of Labour, “without result or agreement” as proposals made by the company, “were totally rejected by the workers’ unions.”

“Eventually, we terminated the employment of 18 of the 36 employees, of which five have secured other employment.” CPT characterised these terminations as “70 per cent less than required” stating that despite this compromise, employees in Nicosia had decided to continue their strike.

An agreement was finally reached on Saturday after five hours of discussions between the two ministers of labour and transport, the unions, and the company.

Spokesperson for Sek, Charalambos Avgousti, stated that the meeting resulted in agreement to resolve all issues and added that the unions are waiting for the written text of the agreement, which is expected by Tuesday, so that it can be put to an assembly of employees for ratification. Some matters would be given immediate consideration while others would be resolved within an agreed upon timeline.

CPT for its part stated that “with the restoration of transport services now, we would like to assure our customers that CPT will continue to make every effort to avoid similar phenomena in the future.”

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