Okypy urges unions to call off 48-hour strike

The state health services organisation (Okypy) has called on trade unions not to go ahead with a 48-hour strike planned for November 10 and 11, saying there is considerable room to continue talks. Okypy spokesman Charalambos Charilaou said the organisation was ready to discuss and explain its positions to all parties involved. “The organisation’s concern is its people, its staff and its well-being,” he said. Charilaou said the consultations had produced substantial progress on issues affecting working conditions, including teleworking, rest leave and service plans. Work was under way on outstanding matters from the previous collective agreement, among them the introduction of salary grades and the development of organisational structures for all staff categories. On administrative staff, he said the relevant posts had been included in next year’s budget. Consultation with doctors was at a very advanced stage, while an internal study would record the needs of the remaining sectors. On the annual pay increase, he said the cabinet had taken a decision and a bill to amend the legislation would go to parliament in November. The main point of disagreement is a proposal to link part of the salary increases to a performance evaluation system. Charilaou said such a system would recognise each employee’s contribution more fairly, to the benefit of patients. The strike was announced on October 26 by the unions SEK, PEO, Deok, Pasyno and Pasyki, who said staff were dissatisfied over annual pay rises and the personnel structure, the latter directly tied to understaffing and the standard of patient care. They said the collective agreement that ended last year had not been fully implemented and that talks on a deal had reached a deadlock over how salary scales would apply from 2028. The unions said they would not commit to future arrangements while earlier ones remained unimplemented, and that workers were already leaving for other state sectors. They described the strike as “a last resort” and said staff would cooperate with services in emergencies and life-threatening incidents. The agreement covers about 1,600 staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and technical and administrative employees. The unions have given Okypy until November 10 to meet its obligations and reach agreement.