On Sunday, relatives and friends of female non-commissioned officers of the National Guard held a new protest event outside the Presidential Palace, for the unacceptable, as they describe, proposals submitted by the Ministry of Defense to everything it concerns the restoration of the injustice they suffer due to gender.
During their event, as stated in a statement they sent to the media together with the resolution and which is signed by the relatives and friends of the non-commissioned officers, they delivered a resolution to the President of the Republic of Cyprus.
Then, as part of an event outside from the offices of the DISY, they also delivered the resolution to the President of the party and candidate for President of the Republic of Cyprus, Averof Neophytou.
Through the resolution, the protesters describe it as "offensive" the proposal of the Ministry of Defense, expressing at the same time their determination to continue their protests in a more vigorous way, until the injustice is completely remedied.
More specifically, they report, the Ministry of Defense proposed a salary increase of €70 as counter proposal to their requests, for their professional advancement, on the basis of equality with their male colleagues.
They add that the Ministry of the Interior "did not bring any proposal for’ them considering that they have not suffered any harm from gender discrimination, at the time when female NCOs 8th grade were made permanent at 14 years of service and this resulted in legislation being passed in the interim (2012) whereby they have lost all their benefits, which all the previous series got, such as professional pension, lump sum, social security refund and the moment they did not receive any promotion until now.
They emphasize that they do not accept the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and reject it "as completely unacceptable and as not responding to the enormous damage" who have suffered from gender discrimination, both in relation to their access to permanent jobs and their professional advancement.
"For the enormous damage suffered by female NCOs, from gender discrimination, the Ministry of Defense without a trace of shame offered them the paltry sum of €70. What we are saying to them through today's protest event is ‘Shame on you’. The women NCOs are women with dignity and did not ask for any mercy, they say in their resolution.
They call on the state to restore the enormous consequences that have come to them as a result of discrimination based on gender, both in in relation to their access to permanent jobs, as well as their professional advancement.
They emphasize that they will no longer tolerate the "mockery, taunting and unacceptable attitude of the Minister of Defense", noting that they demand the immediate resolution of the whole issue.
They called on the President of the Republic of Cyprus to intervene personally for the immediate restoration of the negative consequences, which came to the female NCOs, on the basis of their counter-proposals, which constitute their final retreat, in order to resolve their entire issue and which were formulated in such a way as not to create a direct and substantial burden on the state budget.
Source: KYPE
