Electricity Authority workers say staff shortages in all departments

Trade unions representing workers in the electricity sector have sent a letter to Energy Minister Natasa Pilides asking her in turn to appeal to the EU in order to lower the spiralling cost of electricity in Cyprus.

And, in a separate letter addressed to Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, the same unions on Wednesday also complained about the shortage of staff at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).

The first letter, co-signed by four different trade unions, said the government has not paid attention to the repeated warning calls regarding high electricity costs.

“To curb the energy crisis resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine and relieve Cypriot consumers, we are now asking the energy ministry to resort directly to the EU,” the letter said.

More specifically, the trade unions asked to extend the operations at the Dhekelia power plant, adding that steps need to be taken in order to avoid wasting electricity, like installing better and newer power generators.

“We will await with great curiosity what will be the energy ministry’s solution to these issues,” the letter concluded.

As far as the second letter is concerned, the unions have informed Petrides about the lack of staff at EAC, especially at power plants and customer service.

“The lack of staff seriously affects EAC’s daily operations,” the letter said. “Employees are working in adverse conditions and in a state of permanent stress.

“Turnover in recent years has reached very high levels and not enough people were hired to replace outgoing staff, creating serious gaps at EAC.”

The letter finally added that a request for supplementary budget to better run EAC’s daily operation has been pending at the finance ministry for several months.