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Central Bank and Bank Employees’ Union signed collective agreement

20/01/2022 16:08

A new collective agreement was signed on Thursday between the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) and ETYK, the Bank Employees' Union. The agreement enables the restructuring of the Central Bank’s organizational structure.

“Today’s agreement is a milestone for the Central Bank”, said CBC Governor, Constantinos Herodotou, speaking to the press after the signing of the agreement. With the new agreement, the Central Bank acquires an "organisational pyramid" with 10 different levels of employment, he added. Previously, he went on, the Central Bank had multiple pyramids with up to 27 different levels, which made decision making difficult while affecting the Central Bank's effectiveness. Herodotou thanked the two negotiating teams for reaching this agreement.

ETYK’s honorary President, Loizos Hadjicostis, expressed his satisfaction for reaching a "balanced agreement" which “sets the ground for improving the functionality and performance of the Bank, while respecting the staff”.

He said that there are no additional economic benefits as a result of the agreement, however, these emerge through the Bank’s restructuring, providing employees with more opportunities for promotion and professional development. The duration of the agreement covers the period from 2017 to 31 December 2021.

Answering a question regarding the economic cost of the agreement, Herodotou said that an economic analysis, approved by the Board of Directors, preceded the agreement. He said that they managed to strike a balance between modernizing and restructuring the Central Bank and ensuring labour peace with the staff, for the best functioning of the Central Bank of Cyprus. "This is what we achieved with this Agreement” he concluded.