The work stoppage of the workers at the ground handling company of Paphos airport ended shortly after 19:00 after the agreement reached at the meeting held at the Ministry of Transport, according to the Provincial Secretary of the Paphos SEC Petro Dimosthenous.
In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Dimosthenous stated that according to the decision taken during the meeting, "at Paphos airport all 28 people interested in working with the new company will be hired under exactly the same conditions as they had with the old one. the employer, as well as the contracts and benefits they have had until now will be applied”.
In addition, continued Mr. Demosthenous, at Larnaca airport where there is a similar problem, negotiations will continue for the next 2 -3 days with a schedule until Monday so that a solution can be found in accordance with the standards of the agreement for Paphos.
The meeting began at 14:30 on Wednesday, chaired by the Minister of Transport Yannis Karousos with the participation of representatives of the SEK, PEO and DEOK trade unions and representatives of the three companies operating at Paphos airport, as well as civil aviation.
Despite our appeals, Mr. Dimosthenous told us, the staff of the LGS Handling Ltd and Swissport companies went on a spontaneous work stoppage which lasted until the decision was made, i.e. after 19:00 on Wednesday.
Bearing in mind the development of the positive outcome during the meeting, the Provincial Secretary of the Paphos SEC said "we informed our local representatives at Paphos airport and as a result they suspended their work stop".
Our effort, he continued, is to help everyone so that the planes parked at Paphos airport and their passengers can be served.
Finally, Mr. Dimosthenous apologized for the suffering of the passenger public, adding however that the work stoppage took place after the impasse that had arisen in the negotiations and the staff reacted in this way.
The passengers who had remained inside an aircraft for more than two hours, they were released after the end of the work stoppage. More than 15 flights were affected by the stop, mainly to and from British airports, since Wednesday is one of the peak days.
In another development, the Ministry of Transport in its announcement regarding the matter of the employment of ground handling staff at Larnaca and Paphos airports, announces the following:
1. For Paphos Airport, the 28 permanent non-seasonal employees who have expressed an interest in continuing their employment, will be hired with the same terms of employment and with a status of continuation of their employment.
2. For Larnaca Airport, the discussion continues with the aim of settling the issue on the same basis in the next few days with the aim of concluding by on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
Source: KYPE
