Paphos municipality employees on Thursday announced they will be staging a 24-hour work stoppage on April 4 to protest the “unilateral decisions” of the Paphos municipality and municipal council.

In a joint statement, labour unions Sek, Peo and Deok said the decision was unanimous, and was taken during a general assembly of all the staff.

The reasons that led staff to announce a strike were “continuous violations of articles in the collective labour agreement, as well as legislation regarding sick leave, and non-payment of full benefits in accordance with the salary protection law,” the statement said.

More reasons include that their welfare fund has not been paid, according to the unions, and the working hours of the traffic service.,

Municipal staff expressed “their intense disappointment at the unjustified delay of the department of labour relations in taking a stance on the mediation meeting which took place on December 13, 2022,” the statement said.

It went on to say that both the staff and the trade unions that represent them were sympathetic towards any issues the work stoppage may cause the public, stressing that they “had no other choice”.