SCHOOL BUS drivers in Larnaca were on strike on Monday over unpaid wages, causing many students to miss their classes.
The chairman of Larnaca’s Zenon bus company, Loucas Louca told Cyprus News Agency the bus drivers, who were not employees but associates, had not been paid since October.
“The bus drivers have not been paid since last October and are demanding what they are owed, but the company is unable to pay them because the state will not give the necessary amounts so that the associates could be paid,” Louca said.
While the company had received €395,000 in December it had a payroll of €420,000, he said, pointing out that the drivers had been protesting about their wages since October. “From the contacts we had with the Transport Ministry we had hoped the problem would have been solved during the Christmas holidays,” he added.
As the holiday period had passed without any payments, the bus drivers decided to stop doing school routes until they were paid, said Louca who was now waiting to hear from the transport ministry.
The Pancyprian Confederation of Parents Associations of Secondary Public Schools issued an announcement protesting about the “victimisation of students who were easy victims of a protracted dispute.” The strike affected students living in the villages of the Larnaca district.
The Association accused the Transport Ministry of not being able to solve the problem and said that “nobody seems to be interested in the children.”
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