You are here

Government fits everybody in CYTA

18/11/2015 10:06
The government opens the door to all of Cyta employees to remain in the public sector after the organization’s privatization, giving them the option to work at Cyta Ltd with unpaid leave from state Cyta.

The government’s revised proposal to Cyta employees gives them the right to remain public employees even after they are employed at Cyta private company.

Based on the new proposal, those of the 1649 permanent employees and 596 hourly paid employees who are not needed or leave private Cyta, can work in the public sector.

A report prepared by the government and presented today by Politis newspaper argues that the state has significant needs in various fields that could potentially be covered by transferring Cyta staff to various departments of the public sector. Moreover, it argues that Cyta staff with their qualifications could be employed in fields such as meteorology and dental services.

The finance minister told the newspaper that the government's proposal nears demands of Cyta unionists. Referring to the options given to employees of Cyta, he said that "we reconfigured our fourth option for unpaid leave to approach the proposal the unionists had submitted themselves."

The government proposes massive hiring of CYTA employees to CYTA Ltd on the terms provided by the collective agreement and with all their rights. They will be paid by Cyta Ltd but in case of redundancy or dismissal by the private shareholder of the new Cyta, they will be transferred to the public sector. Another choice is early retirement.

The average annual expenditure for each permanent employee of Cyta is € 53 thousand and for each hourly paid employee €16 thousand.

As regards the pension rights of employees, a bill is pending at the parliament for the payment of € 17 mn annually from the state, to cover deficits incurred by bad investments of Cyta's pension fund.

At yesterday's meeting the Minister gave to unionists drafts of all bills on labor issues.

The aim of the Ministry of Finance is to submit all the bills for approval to the cabinet on December 3 and bring them in parliament on the same day.

Tight schedules are related to the prerequisites of the eighth evaluation of the program and the need to vote the bills before the Eurogroup in early January 2016.

Although the government states that it fully satisfies their demands, unionists have doubts regarding the bills.