Truck drivers extend strike for another 48-hours

Truck drivers decided to extend their strike action for another 48-hours and enforced a total blockage of Limassol port barring the public from using the port. Port sources said that thousands of containers remained stuck in the port and in some cases, truck drivers decided to block ordinary folk taking delivery of their personal cars, forcing them to take the cars back.

Other service trucks, used to service ships were also barred from entering the port. Business associations warned that the strike action could have a devastating effect on the economy.
Some 6,000 trucks remained stationary as the strike began at 7 am Monday morning and is now set to extend until Thursday.
Professional class A and D licence truck drivers decided to go on strike after their demand to have all C class licences withdrawn was not met. Truckers claim that the Licensing Authority continue to issue class C licences to private companies to serve their businesses, something that is not in the interest of truck drivers.
Cyprus Association of Professional Driving Licences A and D chairman Loucas Demetriou said that all they want is for the actual legislation on C licences to be enforced by the government.
Employers and Industrialists Federation Michalis Pilikos criticised the truckers for striking but said that the liberalisation was the only option on the matter.
Communications Minister Harris Thrassou said that the decision by class A and D licence truck drivers is inexcusable for many reasons. “The government’s position on the matter is that the decision to strike is inexcusable for procedural as well as other reasons. They are the ones that left the negotiations on Thursday,” he said.
Thrassou said that in any case he does not have the right to call for the withdrawal of the licences because the Licence Authority is independent and evaluates the evidence for handing out licences on its own; therefore calls for the Communications Minister to intervene are “unrealistic”.