STAFF at the College of Tourism are in dispute with their employers over the failure to pay 13th salaries, and a decision to impose pay cuts.
The staff, members of union PASEY-PEO, said the college’s administration had decided unilaterally to slash their January wages by 30 per cent.
They are also protesting their employers’ failure to turn up to a meeting with the Labour Ministry to discuss payment of the overdue amounts.
The college’s director, Savvas Adamides, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the measures were only temporary and the company planned to pay out all overdue money – when possible.
“The essence of the matter is that there is a financial problem,” said Adamides. “We invited the staff to a conference, we exchanged views and asked for their suggestions,” he added.
“The staff came back and said they didn’t accept our proposed measures and now the issue remains there.”
Adamides added, “The company can’t pay the 13th salary and yes it is true that wages were slashed by 30 per cent for January; we asked for their understanding and we sent the staff a letter assuring them that the money would be reimbursed when it’s possible”.
But the employees’ representative at PEO, Costas Hadjithomas, said this wasn’t enough for the workers.
“When it is possible.. but it may never be possible,” he pointed out.
According to Hadjithomas, the matter reached breaking point for the workers when Adamides failed to show up at a meeting to iron out the dispute.
“He refused to come to the Labour Ministry to settle things; this is where the situation came to a head,” said Hadjithomas.
The college employees are the latest in a string of private sector workers who decided to take drastic measures to protest against unilateral decisions by employers to either reduce salaries, not pay 13th salaries, or freeze the Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA).
Earlier this week, the construction industry came to a halt when builders went on a 24-hour strike to protest their contractors’ decision to freeze pay rises and CoLA for this year, without first consulting the unions. This was added to builders’ gripes over the employment of cheap labour and subcontractors..
