SCHOOL bus drivers decided to call off their Monday strike, which caused many schoolchildren to miss classes, after a meeting at the Transport Ministry later in the day. School buses were running at lunch-time on Monday.
Transport minister Vasiliki Anastasiades said that although the issue was an “internal dispute” of Larnaca’s Zenon bus company, the interested parties where invited to the ministry for a meeting with the permanent secretary and the “specific issue was resolved.
School bus drivers in Larnaca called a strike on Monday over unpaid wages, claiming they had not been paid since October. Chairman of Zenon bus company, Loucas Louca told Cyprus News Agency the bus drivers, who were not employees but associates 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.
The ministry had been informed about the planned strike late on Sunday and had no time to stop the action, said the minister, who insisted that the wage demands had nothing to do with the ministry but was a dispute between the company and the drivers.
“We urge the company to deal with any internal issues of the company and to deal with them promptly, irrespective of whether they are to do with workers, sub-contractors or associates, so that no problems are caused to the movement of students,” said Anastasiades.
In a statement after the meeting, Zenon, apologised for inconveniencing the public and said “an agreement in principle was reached.” It also said that “very soon, a new round of consultations will follow for the taking of final decisions.”
Zenon had hoped the ministry would have covered the back-pay owed to the bus drivers, during the Christmas holidays. The company had received €395,000 in December while it had a payroll of €420,000, Louca, pointing out that the drivers had been protesting about their wages since October.
How the problem would be resolved remains to be seen given that the minister insisted the unpaid wages was the bus company’s problem and not the ministry’s.
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.
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