.
It is ironic that the out-dated trade unions at the state-owned electricity producer chose to plan their strikes to coincide with the visit to the island of the EU’s Energy Commissioner, as if Maros Sefcovic would set aside his plans for improving Europe’s energy market just to accommodate the whims of a bunch of overpaid workers.
To his credit, on his visit to Vassiliko, the Commission Vice President had praise for the engineers who rebuilt the power station, decimated from the July 2011 blast nearby, but also spoke of the need for energy security, which includes the concept of a free flow of electricity throughout the continent’s power grids.
Little do unionists realise that their personal agendas to keep their jobs at all cost is harming the potential of transforming Cyprus from an energy island to an equal member of the wider European network.
Already, the government and now the Troika have backtracked on plans to privatise the EAC and are talking about unbundling the utility into two state-own entities – the power producer and the grid operator/reseller. This, however, mans that all employees at the EAC would maintain their jobs and generous benefits, paid for by the tax payer and ripped off consumer.
With reform thrown out of the window, labour costs at the EAC will remain high and inefficiencies will continue to rule, at the same time keeping the nation’s electricity supply at the mercy of trade union officials, who will now have two organisations to use in order to exert influence on the politicians. With two parallel entities, the privileged few at the EAC will have double opportunities for promotion, and hence bigger payouts and pensions, all at the expense of the consumers, many of whom are below the poverty line and have seen their home power cut off.
It’s a shame that the government failed to stand up to the unions, fearing the backlash from the parliamentary elections in May, while ordinary EAC customers continue to suffer. After all, this is a ‘prior action’ privatisation commitment that should have been completed a year ago, if not earlier, with the whole storm having settled by now, and not left the last minute, on the eve of elections.
