The Bank Employees’ Union ETYK has announced an hour-long strike on Tuesday over the decree Finance Minister issued earlier this week on salary cuts for bank workers who are employed at the Cooperative Central Bank.
ETYK describes the decree as ‘dictatorial, unjust and unethical’ and expresses disappointment and bitterness.
The Union’s legal advisers will look into the decree and advise them on future moves on the matter, ETYK says in a press release.
ETYK calls on the Cooperative Central Bank management to proceed to the negotiating table so that a solution can be found through constructive dialogue.
Finance Minister Haris Georgiades on Wednesday issued a decree that sets the pay cuts in the co-op sector, thus settling a dispute with the bank workers union ETYK, which disagreed with the scale of the reductions.
Talks between ETYK and the Central Co-operative Bank (CCB) on the scale of salary cuts of its 300 members broke down, with the union accusing the CCB of blackmailing its members.
Moreover, next Saturday (February 9th), a total of nineteen organizations are organizing a demonstration against the Troika memorandum and the austerity measures which have been imposed.
In a press conference Friday, the organizers said that they are planning to circle the buildings of the Finance Ministry, the Labour Ministry, the Central Cooperative Bank and the House of the EU in Nicosia (which are located close to each other) in a symbolic action against Troika.
Troika technocrats (ECB, EC and IMF) are currently visiting the island on a third assessment on Cyprus’ rescue package.
Excluded from international markets, Cyprus applied in June 2012 to the European Stability Mechanism in a bid to avert the collapse of its two largest banks, severely hit by the haircut of the Greek sovereign debt and soaring non-performing loans which currently reach €19 billion.
Cyprus and the Troika agreed last March on a €10 billion bailout, which featured a haircut of deposits over €100,000 in bid to recapitalize the banks.