CYPRUS: Cyta unions oppose telco privatisation

Trade union reps from the state-owned Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta), one of several utilities slated for privatisation over the next four years, told officials from the Troika of international lenders that they remain adamant in their opposition to the sale.

Cyta, the ports authority, power generator EAC and other government assets are included in the roadmap for de-nationalisation with the aim of raising €1.4 bln by the end of 2018, as part of the €10 bln bailout and reform programme agreed with the IMF, EU and ECB.
Consultants are expected to provide an initial study by the end of 2015 that will set the framework for the privatisation of Cyta, one of the biggest dividend earners of the state in past decades, but also an inefficient company burdened with staff hired by pressure from all political parties and ruling government.
Cyta has been gradually losing market share to the likes of South Africa-owned MTN, the second biggest telecom provide, while other operators such as PrimeTel and Cablenet are also growing.
Trade union leader Alekos Tryfonides told reporters after the Troika meeting that they had “expressed their discontent as the Government remains oblivious to our cause to convene a mixed advisory committee that will discuss the workers’ rights,” in the case of privatisation and transfer of ownership.
However, the trade unions have failed over the years to come up with alternative plans to raise funds for the state, apart from growing on strike in 2014 together with colleagues from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, that backfired and turned public opinion against them.
Tryfonides said that Cyta unions have set as “a red line” the securing of the workers’ pension and labour rights by the government prior to any privatisation deal.
The left-leaning PEO trade union said that the unions are being left out of the privatisation procedure which “raises suspicion that they are not following the right procedure”.