Larnaca port workers on indefinite strike (Update 2)
Workers from the Larnaca port’s operational department have gone on strike indefinitely as of Monday.
The strike was called on over a dispute regarding working hours and overtime, with trade union Segdamelin Peo’s Larnaca secretary-general Nadia Kyritsi saying that contractor Kition Ocean Port has been “violating” agreements signed together with the workers.
She said that instead of using its own staff to work overtime, the company is employing “external contractors” to fill gaps.
She referred to an agreement struck on February 9, which effectively gives the port’s regular workers first refusal on overtime outside their regular working hours of 7.30am to 3.30pm.
Only if the workers have given a negative response in writing can Kition then use other workers to fill the gaps.
Kyritsi added that a group of workers will travel to Nicosia to meet with Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades regarding the matter.
The strike had raised questions regarding the future of the Amalthea plan, with aid ships sent to Gaza from Cyprus typically departing from Larnaca.
However, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told the Cyprus Mail the government expects the strike to have “no impact whatsoever” on the Amalthea plan’s progress.
“The port workers who are on strike and the people working on the Amalthea plan have no connection to each other. We do not expect there to be any disruption,” he added.
Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday that the United States military ship the Sagamore was being loaded with aid provisions.
She added that work on the temporary jetty off the coast of Gaza had been paused due to “unsafe” weather conditions, but that once the weather permits, the jetty’s completion will be “imminent”.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus employers’ and industrialists’ federation (Oev) condemned the strike in no uncertain terms, saying it is taking place “unnecessarily”.
“The situation at the Larnaca port with the unwarranted and provocative strikes … has reached an impasse as a small proportion of workers have systematically chosen the path of conflict,” they said.
They added that the workers are “trying to arbitrarily impose their demands” and “completely disregarding the problems created for traders, other workers, consumers, and the economy in general.”
They added that “the manifestation of such behaviour is possible due to the absence of a regulatory framework for strikes in essential services.
“The economy and society will suffer over time from the absence of a protective framework for the operation of essential services.”
For this reason, they called on the government to write legislation to regulate strikes, adding “the patience of all those affected has run out”.