During peak tourist season, coastal Larnaca has now gone without buses for almost a week, as an indefinite strike by Larnaca Public Transport drivers continues, with professionals accusing the LPT of violations in their collective agreement.
Employees are meeting later today to decide on further action if a meeting is not set to discuss their issues.
Unions SEK, PEO and DEOK had initially called a 48 hour strike but it quickly turned to indefinite action last week. According to the unionists, the company is violating the working hours schedule, which calls for a 38 hour week or 7 hours 36 minutes on a daily basis.
‘We had no choice but to act on this violation based on the Industrial Relations Code, as the Labour ministry also declared a blatant violation of the relevant collective agreement’, the unions said, calling on LPT to respect the ministry’s decision, honouring what was agreed.
LPT responded that in spite of its intention to engage in dialogue and continued adherence to all collective agreements and legal obligations, ‘the strike remains in force’.
However, as noted, the company cannot do anything further to resolve the situation at this point, also indicating that the strike is causing severe problems for passengers, both locals and visitors.