14/12/2015 12:34
The cabinet approved today the bills on Cyta privatisation as well as the regulations framework which secures, as the finance minister Haris Georgiades said, "in an absolute and completely clear manner the employees' interests in the case of a potential privatisation of Cyta".
The finance minister stated that the bill secures the employees' pensions, security of employment, advancement prospects and the provisions of the collective agreement are under any circumstances secured by law.
At the same time, he said, the cabinet regulates the state's ability to intervene and control the new company even after the assumption of its operations by the strategic investor for a number of reasons that are associated with national security.
"With fully securing on one side the employees rights and on the other side issues of national security, we pave the way for the parliament to examine and take position on the recommended changes which are pending at the legislative body since last August and which provide for the establishment of a new company which will initially belong exclusively to the state, with the prospect at a later stage, to create the circumstances for the coming of a strategic investor, aiming at the organisation getting rid of the situations holding it back due to state ownership and the interventions that have throughout time damaged it, and securing a contemporary and efficient management".
Leaderships of the five trade unions that are organized at Cyta earlier delivered a protest letter to the president of the Republic urging him to say yes to the modernization of Cyta and no to the authority’s privatization and to remove the prerequisite for the organization’s privatization.
The letter was delivered to the head of presidency administration Kypros Kyprianou as the cabinet meeting is in progress since 10am.
At the same time hundreds of Cyta employees are on a peaceful protest outside the presidential palace holding signs with messages such as "No to the privatization of Cyta», «No to the selling out of Cyta», «You cannot sell something that is not yours "and" The right to communication is no luxury. "
General Secretary of EPOET - OHO -SEK Elias Demetriou speaking on behalf of all Cyta employees urged the government to remove the provision for the privatization of the authority from the memorandum, as it did with EAC.
He expressed disappointment that since last Friday when the unions requested a meeting with President Anastasiades and the Minister of Finance there has not been a response.
"We expected that today they would at least abide by formality however, this resolution stresses the temporal position of the trade union movement that workers are against privatizations and denationalization," Mr. Dimitriou said.
He noted that the cabinet has artfully removed from the minutes of prerequisites the issue of the privatization of EAC last week and invited the President of the Republic and his cabinet "to remove the prerequisite for Cyta, in order to be able to operate within a climate of labour peace".
Mr. Dimitriou kept the possibility open that employees may react strongly if the government maintains its position on the privatization of the authority.
In their letter, the unions note that Cyta «is a profitable and sustainable business under public control which significantly enhances the state budget, is not a burden to the Cypriot taxpayer and has immediate potential for increasing its efficiency and profitability for the benefit of the society."
"We recognize current problems in the way Cyta is operating, but it is our belief that the solution will not occur through privatization, but through changes at an institutional level to make it more flexible and more effective", as noted.
They also refer to the submission of a specific modernization proposal which leads to the creation of a modern semi-governmental organization that will support the public development strategy and simultaneously be a model agency as regards organization and working conditions, able to cope with increasing competition.
"Cyta has an immediate potential to increase its profitability - efficiency if left to work flexibly. Cyta is able to continue as a key factor in the economy of our country and not as a field for fast business profit. Through modernization, Cyta can and must remain effective and become even more competitive in the new competitive European business environment. It can thus continue to support the public development strategy and simultaneously be a model agency as regards organization and working conditions, able to cope with increased competition" the letter concludes.
The finance minister stated that the bill secures the employees' pensions, security of employment, advancement prospects and the provisions of the collective agreement are under any circumstances secured by law.
At the same time, he said, the cabinet regulates the state's ability to intervene and control the new company even after the assumption of its operations by the strategic investor for a number of reasons that are associated with national security.
"With fully securing on one side the employees rights and on the other side issues of national security, we pave the way for the parliament to examine and take position on the recommended changes which are pending at the legislative body since last August and which provide for the establishment of a new company which will initially belong exclusively to the state, with the prospect at a later stage, to create the circumstances for the coming of a strategic investor, aiming at the organisation getting rid of the situations holding it back due to state ownership and the interventions that have throughout time damaged it, and securing a contemporary and efficient management".
Leaderships of the five trade unions that are organized at Cyta earlier delivered a protest letter to the president of the Republic urging him to say yes to the modernization of Cyta and no to the authority’s privatization and to remove the prerequisite for the organization’s privatization.
The letter was delivered to the head of presidency administration Kypros Kyprianou as the cabinet meeting is in progress since 10am.
At the same time hundreds of Cyta employees are on a peaceful protest outside the presidential palace holding signs with messages such as "No to the privatization of Cyta», «No to the selling out of Cyta», «You cannot sell something that is not yours "and" The right to communication is no luxury. "
General Secretary of EPOET - OHO -SEK Elias Demetriou speaking on behalf of all Cyta employees urged the government to remove the provision for the privatization of the authority from the memorandum, as it did with EAC.
He expressed disappointment that since last Friday when the unions requested a meeting with President Anastasiades and the Minister of Finance there has not been a response.
"We expected that today they would at least abide by formality however, this resolution stresses the temporal position of the trade union movement that workers are against privatizations and denationalization," Mr. Dimitriou said.
He noted that the cabinet has artfully removed from the minutes of prerequisites the issue of the privatization of EAC last week and invited the President of the Republic and his cabinet "to remove the prerequisite for Cyta, in order to be able to operate within a climate of labour peace".
Mr. Dimitriou kept the possibility open that employees may react strongly if the government maintains its position on the privatization of the authority.
In their letter, the unions note that Cyta «is a profitable and sustainable business under public control which significantly enhances the state budget, is not a burden to the Cypriot taxpayer and has immediate potential for increasing its efficiency and profitability for the benefit of the society."
"We recognize current problems in the way Cyta is operating, but it is our belief that the solution will not occur through privatization, but through changes at an institutional level to make it more flexible and more effective", as noted.
They also refer to the submission of a specific modernization proposal which leads to the creation of a modern semi-governmental organization that will support the public development strategy and simultaneously be a model agency as regards organization and working conditions, able to cope with increasing competition.
"Cyta has an immediate potential to increase its profitability - efficiency if left to work flexibly. Cyta is able to continue as a key factor in the economy of our country and not as a field for fast business profit. Through modernization, Cyta can and must remain effective and become even more competitive in the new competitive European business environment. It can thus continue to support the public development strategy and simultaneously be a model agency as regards organization and working conditions, able to cope with increased competition" the letter concludes.
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