Strike action at Cyprus Airways

The two largest trade unions representing staff at Cyprus Airways (CAIR) have called for a 24-hour strike action on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 and a further 48-hour strike on December 17-18, 2007 in protest over a ground handling deal reached by the airline.

CYNIKA SEK and SYDEKEK PEO rejected the mediation proposals submitted by the Labour Ministry with respect to CAIR’s plans to outsource ground handling services at the airports to Swissport & GAP Vassilopoulos. The national carrier insists no jobs will be lost, while it will enable the airline to carry out the services more cost effectively.
The company says it could save nearly CYP2 million a year. Around 140 employees would be affected by the shift but CAIR says their jobs and benefits would not be endangered. The affected employees however, fear they would no longer be CAIR employees but merely employees of the joint venture company.

The unions also rejected a plea by the airline to avoid strike action during the festive season. CAIR called the strike inexcusable and unethical. “This action pushes an already troubled airline which is making a last ditch attempt to survive over the edge,” a CY statement said.
Under the proposed joint venture, CAIR would hold over 25 percent of shares, giving it a strong input in decision-making, should they win the contract being tendered by airport operator Hermes, which has pledged to open ground handling services to competition by next April.
At the moment, CAIR only performs about 20-25 percent of the total work they hope to be doing with Swissport, assuming the venture wins one of the two licences being offered by Hermes.