Kition tells govt to ‘respect obligations’ to port workers

Port operator Kition Ocean Holdings on Wednesday said it hopes the government “does not deviate from its obligations” to the workers at the Larnaca port.

The statement came after it emerged that Kition had served the workers with notices of dismissal on Tuesday night, with the company insisting that the abrupt nature of the notice had only come about due to the course of action the government had chosen.

“When the government terminated the agreement on May 27, it ordered Kition to immediately vacate the premises so the government would ‘immediately acquire all the rights to the project. The government chose not to have a handover period, which would have allowed for a smooth handover,” they said.

They added that the government had “showed up accompanied by the police” and with “no real plan or direction, especially in relation to the workers”.

They went over to say the sequence of events “has caused great disturbance to the workers, who are rightly concerned about the future”.

“We are raising this issue publicly to make sure the government will treat workers fairly and according to the law,” they added.

They then made reference to the law which stipulates that when the ownership of a business is transferred, its employees are automatically transferred to the new entity which takes the business over, and that the employees’ rights are also automatically transferred.

They pointed out that the law was introduced into Cypriot domestic law in 2000 and is also the subject of a relevant European Union directive which passed the following year, and that it also applies if a business is nationalised.

“The transfer of employees is not a matter of choice for the government, but is an automatic result of the taking over of a business and its facilities is mandatory under the law,” they said.

They added, “in official statements in the past few days, the government has given assurances that the workers will not be made victims and that ‘a formula will be found to continue their work’. The law mandates that the transfer of employment is automatic and must include all employees.”

For this reason, they said they are “troubled” by the government’s reference to finding a “formula”, and that they have raised this matter publicly “to ensure workers’ rights are fully respected”.