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Workers at Cyprus Airports Stage Strike

Posted on: Saturday, 9 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Workers at Cyprus airports stage strike

NICOSIA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Cyprus' two airports on Friday after workers staged an unscheduled strike to protest a deal signed between the government and a consortium of companies under which a foreign group will run the airports for 25 years.

Workers, including baggage handlers, walked off from their jobs, saying the deal deprives them of adequate jobs and security and the strike will continue until their demands are met.

Luggage was left piled up at the airport terminals or locked inside aircraft cargo holds as workers refused to load and unload them, although passengers were allowed to disembark.

Around seventy flights are being affected at Larnaca airport and 12 at Paphos, with passengers transferred to hotels with hand luggage only.

Aircraft attempting to land at Larnaca were being diverted to other airports, including Athens Airport in Greece.

The Cyprus government signed Friday a 500-million-euro deal with Hermes Consortium Airports to develop and run two airports on the island.

Communications Minister Haris Thrasou described the strike as " unnecessary," noting that the agreement with Hermes Consortium provided three options for the workers -- keeping on working under the new management, accepting transfers to other government posts or leaving their jobs to receive a compensation package.

But the workers' unions SEK, PEO and DEOK blame the government for the latest development, claiming that it did not keep its promises.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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