Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos, who is currently acting as interim Labour Minister while Zeta Emilianidou remains hospitalised in Athens with a brain aneurism, has cancelled a meeting with bank employees union Etyk after staff at Hellenic Bank announced they will go on a 24-hour warning strike on May 31.
The strike was decided during a board meeting of Etyk at which 99.5 per cent, or 5,714 members of all banks, voted in favour of the work stoppage.
In a written statement, the union said the reasons behind the measure were “violations of the agreements and laws by the Hellenic Bank management”.
The strike will act as a warning, they added, while in case the Hellenic Bank management does not comply and abide by the agreements and the law, such as the decisions of the labour minister, then the measures will be intensified and extended.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on Wednesday, Karousos said that calling a strike at this moment “shows no respect for Emilianidou’s conditions.”
He was due to meet the union’s representatives and the bank’s management to mediate an agreement between the two parts.
“However, Etyk’s decision to call a strike comes at the worst possible time, when the labour minister is fighting for her life,” Karosuos said.
“I was assured that the meeting would go ahead when suddenly I was informed about the union’s decision to strike. Therefore, meeting would make no sense at this moment.”
The transport minister added, however, that he will still meet with the Hellenic Bank’s management soon.
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