Bus drivers and other staff of Larnaca Public Transport staff started a 48-hour strike at 5.30am on Wednesday.
The 120 employees gathered at the Larnaca bus station, claiming the company had failed to honour a key term of their collective agreement.
The strike, jointly announced on Tuesday by trade unions Sek, Peo and Deok, follows what they described as a “blatant violation” of the agreed working hours, specifically the 38-hour work week (equivalent to 7 hours and 36 minutes per day).
The unions called on the employers on Wednesday to implement the collective agreement and restore labour peace.
Sek trade unionist Charalambos Avgousti said the collective agreement had been drafted after a proposal by the labour ministry and had been accepted by both workers and employers.
“We have been in negotiation for the past two months for the company to implement the collective agreement and the term for 38 working hours, however the company insists on not implementing it. Thus, we had no other choice – after the labour ministry spoke of a blatant violation of the collective agreement – to stage the 48-hour strike,” Avgousti added.
Larnaca Public Transport said it was a model company, implementing competitive terms and working conditions for its employees.
It added that the labour ministry had never determined a violation of the collective agreement and that nevertheless the company had submitted realistic and improved proposals to avert trade union measures.
The strike, it said, victimised those using public transport and was unfair to a company honouring its obligations towards its staff.
The company called on the labour ministry to immediately implement the provisions of the industrial relations code agreed on by all social partners.
The employers’ federation OEV echoed the company’s positions.
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